How does the Venus flytrap “count”? – The molecular and evolutionary basis of frequency/dosedependent decision-making in the carnivorous Droseraceae family

维纳斯捕蝇草是如何计数的？

• 批准号: 415282803
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Rainer Hedrich
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Lehrstuhl für Botanik I: Molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie und Biophysik
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Reinhart Koselleck Projects
• 资助国家: 德国
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/415282803?language=en
• 关键词: How; does; Venus; flytrap; count

The ability of number estimation or ‘counting’ is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom and involves memorization, rule-following and decision-making. Although plants certainly lack animal´s neuronal structures, the Venus flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, has invaded this animal stronghold. Alike all carnivorous plants, Dionaea depends on an animal diet in its nutrient-poor natural habitat. When an insect visits the Dionaea trap and tilts the mechanosensory trigger hairs on the inner surface, action potentials (APs) are fired and travel along the surfaces of cells. As soon as the moving object elicits two consecutive APs, the trap snaps shut, encaging the victim and initiating Dionaea´s "hunting cycle" (named by Darwin). Within the different steps of the hunting cycle, Dionaea ‘counts’ and ‘memorizes’ the number of action potentials to estimate the size and nutrient content of a struggling prey. Accordingly, Dionaea continuously weighs to continue or to stop its metabolically costly digestive cycle, which allows the Venus flytrap to balance the cost and benefit of hunting. Therefore, Dionaea´s action potential bears quantized information. Aiming to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying frequency-dependent decision making in carnivorous plants, we will identify the components of the AP as well as the cell types generating and propagating the electrical signal. Using mutants defective in excitation-contraction coupling, we aim to identify the key players responsible for Dionaea´s short-term "Memory". In a comparative genomic approach on selected carnivorous plant species, we aim to identify molecular circuits providing the cellular basis for "counting", hapto-electric signalling and decision-making.

在动物王国中，估计数字或“计数”的能力无处不在，涉及记忆、遵守规则和决策。虽然植物确实缺乏动物的神经元结构，但捕蝇草（Dionaea muscipula）已经入侵了动物的大本营。像所有的食肉植物一样，狄龙属植物在其营养贫乏的自然栖息地以动物为食。当昆虫到达Dionaea陷阱并倾斜内表面的机械感觉触发毛时，动作电位（ap）被激发并沿着细胞表面传播。一旦移动的物体引起连续两次的ap，陷阱就会关闭，将受害者困住，并开始戴奥纳亚的“狩猎周期”（由达尔文命名）。在捕猎周期的不同步骤中，Dionaea“计数”和“记忆”动作电位的数量，以估计挣扎中的猎物的大小和营养成分。因此，Dionaea持续称重以继续或停止其代谢昂贵的消化循环，这使得维纳斯捕蝇草能够平衡狩猎的成本和收益。因此，Dionaea的动作电位具有量化的信息。为了揭示食肉植物频率依赖决策的分子机制，我们将确定AP的组成以及产生和传播电信号的细胞类型。利用兴奋-收缩耦合缺陷突变体，我们的目标是确定负责龙葵短期“记忆”的关键参与者。在选择的肉食性植物物种的比较基因组方法中，我们的目标是确定为“计数”，触觉-电信号和决策提供细胞基础的分子电路。