The Venus flytrap attracts insects by the release of volatile organic compounds

Abstract

Does Dionaea muscipula, the Venus flytrap, use a particular mechanism to attract animal prey? This question was raised by Charles Darwin 140 years ago, but it remains unanswered. This study tested the hypothesis that Dionaea releases volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to allure prey insects. For this purpose, olfactory choice bioassays were performed to elucidate if Dionaea attracts Drosophila melanogaster. The VOCs emitted by the plant were further analysed by GC-MS and proton transfer reaction-mass spectrometry (PTR-MS). The bioassays documented that Drosophila was strongly attracted by the carnivorous plant. Over 60 VOCs, including terpenes, benzenoids, and aliphatics, were emitted by Dionaea, predominantly in the light. This work further tested whether attraction of animal prey is affected by the nutritional status of the plant. For this purpose, Dionaea plants were fed with insect biomass to improve plant N status. However, although such feeding altered the VOC emission pattern by reducing terpene release, the attraction of Drosophila was not affected. From these results it is concluded that Dionaea attracts insects on the basis of food smell mimicry because the scent released has strong similarity to the bouquet of fruits and plant flowers. Such a volatile blend is emitted to attract insects searching for food to visit the deadly capture organ of the Venus flytrap.

Sesquiterpene emissions from Alternaria alternata and Fusarium oxysporum: Effects of age, nutrient availability and co-cultivation

“…In our approach, as in recent work 26 , VOC samples were analyzed using a thermo-desorption unit (TDU, Gerstel) coupled to a GC-MS (GC type: 7890A, MS type: 5975C inert XL MSD with a triple axis detector, both from Agilent Technologies (Palo Alto, CA, USA) using a 5% phenyl 95% dimethyl arylene siloxane capillary column (60 m × 250 μm × 0.25 μm DB-5MS + 10 m DG, Agilent Technologies). The TDU-GC-MS was run as described previously 48 49 . Calibration was achieved by injecting pure standard mixtures dissolved in hexane at seven different concentrations ranging from ~20 to 800 pmol μl −1 .…”

The Venus Flytrap Dionaea muscipula Counts Prey-Induced Action Potentials to Induce Sodium Uptake

“…The tips of Dionaea leaves have developed into bilobed snap trap-type capture organs, equipped with a number of mechano-sensitive hairs and a densely packed array of glands. Insects are attracted to the capture organs by a fruity volatile blend emitted by starving flytraps [ 9 ]. Visitors searching for food eventually touch the trigger hairs leading to the electric excitation of the trap; the mechanical stimulus is converted into an all-or-nothing action potential (AP).…”

Venus Flytrap HKT1-Type Channel Provides for Prey Sodium Uptake into Carnivorous Plant Without Conflicting with Electrical Excitability

“…This insect-dominated diet enables the Venus flytrap to overcome the limitations of its soil nutrient-poor habitats. Insects in search of food are attracted by odorants produced by the flytrap ( Kreuzwieser et al., 2014 ), and when visiting the capture organ they inadvertently stimulate mechanosensitive trigger hairs, causing the firing of action potentials (APs). Two consecutive APs result in the release of viscoelastic energy stored in the peculiar biomechanics of the capture organ.…”