scholarly journals Mechanical Signaling in the Sensitive Plant Mimosa pudica L.

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuma Hagihara ◽  
Masatsugu Toyota

As sessile organisms, plants do not possess the nerves and muscles that facilitate movement in most animals. However, several plant species can move quickly in response to various stimuli (e.g., touch). One such plant species, Mimosa pudica L., possesses the motor organ pulvinus at the junction of the leaflet-rachilla, rachilla-petiole, and petiole-stem, and upon mechanical stimulation, this organ immediately closes the leaflets and moves the petiole. Previous electrophysiological studies have demonstrated that a long-distance and rapid electrical signal propagates through M. pudica in response to mechanical stimulation. Furthermore, the spatial and temporal patterns of the action potential in the pulvinar motor cells were found to be closely correlated with rapid movements. In this review, we summarize findings from past research and discuss the mechanisms underlying long-distance signal transduction in M. pudica. We also propose a model in which the action potential, followed by water flux (i.e., a loss of turgor pressure) in the pulvinar motor cells is a critical step to enable rapid movement.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soenke Scherzer ◽  
Shouguang Huang ◽  
Anda Iosip ◽  
Ines Fuchs ◽  
Ken Yokawa ◽  
...  

Plants do not have neurons but operate transmembrane ion channels and can get electrical excited by physical and chemical clues. Among them the Venus flytrap is characterized by its peculiar hapto-electric signaling. When insects collide with trigger hairs emerging the trap inner surface, the mechanical stimulus within the mechanosensory organ is translated into a calcium signal and an action potential (AP). Here we asked how the Ca2+ wave and AP is initiated in the trigger hair and how it is feed into systemic trap calcium-electrical networks. When Dionaea muscipula trigger hairs matures and develop hapto-electric excitability the mechanosensitive anion channel DmMSL10/FLYC1 and voltage dependent SKOR type Shaker K+ channel are expressed in the sheering stress sensitive podium. The podium of the trigger hair is interface to the flytrap`s prey capture and processing networks. In the excitable state touch stimulation of the trigger hair evokes a rise in the podium Ca2+ first and before the calcium signal together with an action potential travel all over the trap surface. In search for podium ion channels and pumps mediating touch induced Ca2+ transients, we, in mature trigger hairs firing fast Ca2+ signals and APs, found OSCA1.7 and GLR3.6 type Ca2+ channels and ACA2/10 Ca2+ pumps specifically expressed in the podium. Like trigger hair stimulation, glutamate application to the trap directly evoked a propagating Ca2+ and electrical event. Given that anesthetics affect K+ channels and glutamate receptors in the animal system we exposed flytraps to an ether atmosphere. As result propagation of touch and glutamate induced Ca2+ and AP long-distance signaling got suppressed, while the trap completely recovered excitability when ether was replaced by fresh air. In line with ether targeting a calcium channel addressing a Ca2+ activated anion channel the AP amplitude declined before the electrical signal ceased completely. Ether in the mechanosensory organ did neither prevent the touch induction of a calcium signal nor this post stimulus decay. This finding indicates that ether prevents the touch activated, glr3.6 expressing base of the trigger hair to excite the capture organ.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sönke Scherzer ◽  
Shouguang Huang ◽  
Anda Iosip ◽  
Ines Fuchs ◽  
Ken Yokawa ◽  
...  

Abstract Plants do not have neurons. Instead they operate transmembrane ion channels and can be electrically excited by physical and chemical clues. The Venus flytrap with its distinctive hapto-electric signaling is a prime example. When an insect collides with the trigger hairs emerging from the inner surface of the trap, the mechanical stimulus in the mechanosensory organ is translated into a calcium signal and an action potential (AP). Here we asked how a Ca 2+ wave and AP are initiated in the trigger hair and how these are fed into the systemic trap calcium-electric network. When the Dionaea muscipula trigger hair matures and develops hapto-electric excitability, the mechanosensitive anion channel DmMSL10 and voltage dependent SKOR type Shaker K + channel are expressed in the shear stress-sensitive podium, which interfaces with the flytrap’s prey capture and processing networks. In the excitable state, touch stimulation of the trigger hair first evokes a rise in the podium Ca 2+ , then the calcium signal together with an action potential, travel over the entire trap surface. Seeking the mechanisms that mediate touch-induced Ca 2+ transients in the mature trigger hairs, we show that OSCA1.7 and GLR3.6 type Ca 2+ channels and ACA2/10 Ca 2+ pumps are specifically expressed in the podium. In addition, we found that direct glutamate application to the trap evoked a propagating Ca 2+ and electrical event. Given that anesthetics affect K + channels and glutamate receptors in animal systems, we exposed flytraps to ether. An ether atmosphere suppressed the propagation of touch and glutamate-induced Ca 2+ and AP long-distance signaling, a response that was completely recovered when ether was replaced by fresh air. In line with ether targeting a calcium channel, so triggering a Ca 2+ activated anion channel, the AP amplitude declined before the electrical signal ceased completely. Ether in the mechanosensory organ neither prevented the touch induction of a calcium signal nor its post stimulus decay. This finding indicates that ether prevents the touch activated GLR3.6-expressing base of the trigger hair so exciting the capture organ.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 372
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Sukhova ◽  
Elena Akinchits ◽  
Sergey V. Gudkov ◽  
Roman Y. Pishchalnikov ◽  
Vladimir Vodeneev ◽  
...  

Variation potential (VP) is an important long-distance electrical signal in higher plants that is induced by local damages, influences numerous physiological processes, and participates in plant adaptation to stressors. The transmission of increased hydraulic pressure through xylem vessels is the probable mechanism of VP propagation in plants; however, the rates of the pressure transmission and VP propagation can strongly vary. We analyzed this problem on the basis of a simple mathematical model of the pressure distribution along a xylem vessel, which was approximated by a tube with a pressure gradient. It is assumed that the VP is initiated if the integral over pressure is more than a threshold one, taking into account that the pressure is transiently increased in the initial point of the tube and is kept constant in the terminal point. It was shown that this simple model can well describe the parameters of VP propagation in higher plants, including the increase in time before VP initiation and the decrease in the rate of VP propagation with an increase in the distance from the zone of damage. Considering three types of the pressure dynamics, our model predicts that the velocity of VP propagation can be stimulated by an increase in the length of a plant shoot and also depends on pressure dynamics in the damaged zone. Our results theoretically support the hypothesis about the impact of pressure variations in xylem vessels on VP propagation.


Author(s):  
Karl E. Kim ◽  
Eric Y. Yamashita

As an island state located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where there is limited opportunity for long-distance driving, Hawaii provides an interesting context in which to study fatigue-related crashes. Data from the Hawaii Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System are used to analyze and map fatigue-related collisions. Injury outcomes of fatigue-related crashes are analyzed by using police crash data, emergency medical service records, and insurance claims records. There are distinct temporal and spatial patterns as well as relationships between fatigue-related crashes and driver characteristics. Recommendations for preventing fatigue-related crashes are developed. Roadway segments where fatigue-related crashes occur are identified as possible sites for various engineering treatments. Temporal and demographic information also can be used to design and implement more effective programs and systems for fatigue-related crashes.


2010 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDER G. VOLKOV ◽  
JUSTIN C. FOSTER ◽  
TALITHA A. ASHBY ◽  
RONALD K. WALKER ◽  
JON A. JOHNSON ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 125-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabienne Dédaldéchamp ◽  
Saed Saeedi ◽  
Pierrette Fleurat-Lessard ◽  
Gabriel Roblin

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michio Nakamura ◽  
Noriko Itoh

Abstract:Apes are important long-distance dispersers of large seeds in African tropical forests. Seed size and shape are likely to affect the ease of swallowing for an animal species. If an endozoochorous seed is larger than the digestive tract of an animal, the seed cannot be swallowed, and a round seed is more difficult to swallow than an elongated seed of the same length. In order to test if such a correlation exists between the seed size and its shape, we investigated the length and width of chimpanzee-dispersed seeds at the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Among the 14 species of seeds, longer seeds had significantly narrower relative widths, and thus, they were more ovoid. Since the chimpanzee is the largest arboreal frugivore at Mahale, their food selection might have influenced the shape of larger seeds. The chimpanzee's selective consumption of such fruits with longer, elongated seeds may have facilitated the selective dispersal of such plant species in that area.


2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 862-867 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos da Costa Dórea ◽  
Jaílson Santos de Novais ◽  
Francisco de Assis Ribeiro dos Santos

This paper aims to identify the botanical origin of pollen loads collected by Apis mellifera L. in Canavieiras municipality, Bahia state. It provides a list of polliniferous plant species from the Atlantic Forest biome that are important for the development of regional apiculture. Using the acetolysis method, 35 bee-pollen samples were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. Results showed that pollen types Elaeis (23.99%), Mimosa pudica (22.78%) and Cecropia (13.68%) were the most abundant among the samples. These also showed the highest relative frequencies of the material studied and were important pollen sources for bees in the study area.


2005 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 537-545 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. GILBERT ◽  
S. AKTAS ◽  
H. MOHAMMED ◽  
P. ROEDER ◽  
K. SUMPTION ◽  
...  

Despite significant control efforts, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) persists in Turkey, and new strains of serotypes A, O and Asia-1 are periodically reported to enter the country from the east. The status of FMD in Turkey is important regionally because the country forms a natural bridge between Asia where the disease is endemic, and Europe which has disease-free status. This study analysed spatial and temporal patterns of FMD occurrence in Turkey to explore factors associated with the disease's persistence and spread. Annual records of FMD distribution in Turkish provinces throughout 1990–2002, grouped by serotype (O, A and Asia 1), were analysed using geostatistical techniques to explore their spatial and temporal patterns. A meta-population model was used to test how disease status, expressed in terms of presence/absence, extinction, and colonization, and measured at the province level throughout the periods 1990–1996 and 1997–2002, could be predicted using province-level data on: ruminant livestock numbers; meat production-demand discrepancy (as a surrogate measure of animal and animal products marketing, i.e. long-distance contagion through the traffic of mainly live animals to urban centres); and the disease prevalence distribution as recorded for the previous year. A drastic overall reduction in FMD occurrence was observed from the period 1990–1996 to 1997–2002 when the disease was shown to retract into persistence islands. FMD occurrence was associated with host abundance, short distance contagion from adjacent provinces, and meat production-demand discrepancies. With FMD retracting into identified provinces, a shift in predictors of FMD occurrence was observed with a lower contribution of short-distance contagion, and a relatively higher association with meat production-demand discrepancies leading to live animal transport over long distances, and hence presenting opportunities for identifying critical-control points. The pattern of persistence differed according to serotype groups and is discussed in relation to their differential affinity to cattle and small ruminant hosts.


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