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Strategy of nitrogen acquisition and utilization by carnivorous Dionaea muscipula

  • Plant-microbe-animal interactions - Original research
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Abstract

Plant carnivory represents an exceptional means to acquire N. Snap traps of Dionaea muscipula serve two functions, and provide both N and photosynthate. Using 13C/15N-labelled insect powder, we performed feeding experiments with Dionaea plants that differed in physiological state and N status (spring vs. autumn plants). We measured the effects of 15N uptake on light-saturated photosynthesis (A max), dark respiration (R D) and growth. Depending on N status, insect capture briefly altered the dynamics of R D/A max, reflecting high energy demand during insect digestion and nutrient uptake, followed by enhanced photosynthesis and growth. Organic N acquired from insect prey was immediately redistributed, in order to support swift renewal of traps and thereby enhance probability of prey capture. Respiratory costs associated with permanent maintenance of the photosynthetic machinery were thereby minimized. Dionaea’s strategy of N utilization is commensurate with the random capture of large prey, occasionally transferring a high load of organic nutrients to the plant. Our results suggest that physiological adaptations to unpredictable resource availability are essential for Dionaea’s success with regards to a carnivorous life style.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP/20010-2015)/ERC grant agreement no. (250194-Carnivorom); and by the King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We thank Monika Eibelmeier and Erika Fischer for excellent technical assistance and Prof. Mark Adams and three anonymous reviewers for many helpful comments on earlier draft(s) of this manuscript.

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  1. Anne Honsel

    Present address: Umea Plant Science Center, Plant Physiology, Umea University, 901 87, Umea, Sweden

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Forstbotanik und Baumphysiologie, Universität Freiburg, Georges-Koehler-Allee 53/54, 79110, Freiburg, Germany

    Jörg Kruse, Peng Gao, Anne Honsel, Jürgen Kreuzwieser & Heinz Rennenberg

  2. Forstzoologisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, Tennenbacher Strasse 4, 79085, Freiburg, Germany

    Tim Burzlaff

  3. Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Saleh Alfarraj

  4. Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, University Wuerzburg, 97070, Wuerzburg, Germany

    Rainer Hedrich

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Correspondence to Jörg Kruse.

Additional information

Communicated by Colin Mark Orians.

J. Kruse and P. Gao contributed equally to this study.

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Kruse, J., Gao, P., Honsel, A. et al. Strategy of nitrogen acquisition and utilization by carnivorous Dionaea muscipula . Oecologia 174, 839–851 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2802-9

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