Volatile organic compounds influence prey composition in Sarracenia carnivorous plants

Corentin Dupont1, Bruno Buatois2, Jean-Marie Bessiere3

  • 1AMAP, Montpellier University, CNRS, CIRAD, INRA, IRD, Montpellier, France.

Plos One
|April 19, 2023
PubMed
Summary

Carnivorous pitcher plants use specific scents to attract prey, not just pitcher shape. These plant odors, like those of flowers, influence which insects like ants or bees are captured.

Related Concept Videos

Epiphytes, Parasites, and Carnivores02:40

Epiphytes, Parasites, and Carnivores

Plants often form mutualistic relationships with soil-dwelling fungi or bacteria to enhance their roots’ nutrient uptake ability. Root-colonizing fungi (e.g., mycorrhizae) increase a plant’s root surface area, which promotes nutrient absorption. While root-colonizing, nitrogen-fixing bacteria (e.g., rhizobia) convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into ammonia (NH3), making nitrogen available to plants for various biological functions. For example, nitrogen is essential for the...
13.1K
Predator-Prey Interactions02:39

Predator-Prey Interactions

Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
16.5K
Symbiosis00:58

Symbiosis

Symbiotic relationships are long-term, close interactions between individuals of different species that affect the distribution and abundance of those species. When a relationship is beneficial to both species, this is called mutualism. When the relationship is beneficial to one species but neither beneficial nor harmful to the other species, this is called commensalism. When one organism is harmed to benefit another, the relationship is known as parasitism. These types of relationships often...
29.2K
Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores02:26

Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores

Plants present a rich source of nutrients for many organisms, making it a target for herbivores and infectious agents. Plants, though lacking a proper immune system, have developed an array of constitutive and inducible defenses to fend off these attacks.
23.9K
Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss01:57

Adaptations that Reduce Water Loss

Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.
25.9K
Organic Compounds03:02

Organic Compounds

All living things are formed mostly of carbon compounds called organic compounds. The category of organic compounds includes both natural and synthetic compounds that contain carbon. Although a single, precise definition has yet to be identified by the chemistry community, most agree that a defining trait of organic molecules is the presence of carbon as the principal element, bonded to hydrogen and other carbon atoms. However, some carbon-containing compounds such as carbonates, cyanides, and...
51.7K