Plant Biol (Stuttg) 2006; 8(6): 805-812
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-924472
Research Paper

Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart KG · New York

Evidence of Protocarnivory in Triggerplants (Stylidium spp.; Stylidiaceae)

D. W. Darnowski1 , D. M. Carroll2 , B. Płachno3 , E. Kabanoff4 , E. Cinnamon1
  • 1Department of Biology, Indiana University Southeast, 4201 Grant Line Road, New Albany, IN 47150, USA
  • 2Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Rush University Medical Center, 600 South Paulina St. Suite 440, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
  • 3Department of Plant Cytology and Embryology, Jagiellonian University, 52 ul. Grodzka, 31-044 Krakow, Poland
  • 4Microscopy and Image Analysis Centre for Horticulture and Plant Sciences (CHAPS), University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Campus, Bldg S8, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith South DC, NSW 1797, Australia
Further Information

Publication History

Received: September 29, 2005

Accepted: June 30, 2006

Publication Date:
23 October 2006 (online)

Abstract

Australian triggerplants (Stylidium spp.; Stylidiaceae) trap small insects using mucilage-secreting glandular hairs held at various points on their inflorescence stems and flower parts. Triggerplants are generally found in habitats also containing genera of plants already accepted as carnivorous, two of which (Drosera, Byblis) use the same basic mechanism as Stylidium to trap their prey. In the herbarium, sheets of triggerplants and of accepted groups of carnivorous plants held similar numbers of trapped insects, and in the field, trapping of small prey per unit of glandular surface area was the same at a given site for triggerplants and for nearby carnivorous plants at three sites in northern Australia. Even more important, protease activity was produced by glandular regions of both triggerplants and Drosera after induction with yeast extract. A panel of negative and positive controls, including use 1) of plants grown in tissue culture, which therefore lack surface microorganisms, and 2) of protease inhibitors, shows that this activity 1) is generated by the glandular regions of the triggerplant itself, not by organisms that might reside on the surface of the plants, and 2) is due to proteases. All of this evidence taken together provides strong evidence of protocarnivory in Stylidium, something not previously suggested in the scientific literature, though the insect trapping has been noted informally. Experiments remain to be done to determine nutrient uptake, so triggerplants may well be fully carnivorous.

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D. W. Darnowski

Department of Biology
Indiana University Southeast

4201 Grant Line Road

New Albany, IN 47150

USA

Email: ddarnows@ius.edu

Guest Editor: S. Porembski