Utricularia carnivory revisited: plants supply photosynthetic carbon to traps
Open Access
- 15 September 2009
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Journal of Experimental Botany
- Vol. 61 (1), 99-103
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erp286
Abstract
The rootless, aquatic Utricularia species belong to the largest and most cosmopolitan carnivorous plant genus. Populations of Utricularia plants are an important component of many standing, nutrient-poor, and humic waters. Carbon (C) allocation is an aspect of Utricularia’s ecophysiology that has not been studied previously and there is considerable uncertainty about the functional and ecological benefit of the trap-associated microbial community and the potential role played by C exudation in enhancing plant–microbe interactions. A 13C-labelling experiment was conducted in greenhouse conditions to determine the C allocation between plant tissues of increasing age and trap fluid in two Utricularia species. Both species allocated a majority of the newly fixed C into the fast growing shoot apex (46.1±8.6% in U. vulgaris and 56.1% in U. australis). Carbon allocation rapidly decreased with increasing age of the shoot, constituting only 8.0±4.0% and 6.7% of the total newly fixed C in the oldest analysed segments in U. vulgaris and U. australis, respectively. In the trap-bearing shoot segments, the ratio of C exuded into the trap fluid to that in plant tissues increased markedly with age—in the oldest analysed segments twice as much newly fixed C was allocated into the trap fluid than the plant tissue. Overall, a significant amount of the newly fixed C, approximately 25% (U. vulgaris) and 20% (U. australis), was allocated to the trap fluid. The importance of C exudation for the development of the microbial community associated with the traps as well as for the growth and ecology of aquatic Utricularia is discussed.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Studies on nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by the carnivorous bladderwort utricularia foliosa L. in South Florida wetlandsPublished by Florida International University ,2017
- The influence of prey capture on photosynthetic rate in two aquatic carnivorous plant speciesAquatic Botany, 2008
- Photosynthetic CO2 affinity of the aquatic carnivorous plant Utricularia australis (Lentibulariaceae) and its investment in carnivoryEcological Research, 2008
- Mineral nutrient relations in the aquatic carnivorous plant Utricularia australis and its investment in carnivoryFundamental and Applied Limnology, 2008
- Field growth characteristics of two aquatic carnivorous plants,Aldrovanda vesiculosa andUtricularia australisFolia geobotanica & phytotaxonomica, 2006
- Respiration and Photosynthesis of Bladders and Leaves of Aquatic Utricularia SpeciesPlant Biology, 2006
- Effects of light and microcrustacean prey on growth and investment in carnivory in Utricularia vulgarisFreshwater Biology, 2003
- Rootless Aquatic Plant Aldrovanda Vesiculosa: Physiological Polarity, Mineral Nutrition, and Importance of CarnivoryBiologia plantarum, 2000
- 'Radicle' biochemistry: the biology of root-specific metabolismTrends in Plant Science, 1999
- Photosynthetic characteristics of the aquatic carnivorous plant Aldrovanda vesiculosaAquatic Botany, 1997