CNRS & Grenoble University, Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique, LIPhy, UMR 5588, Saint Martin d'Hères, France.
Plant Signal Behav. 2011 Nov;6(11):1752-4. doi: 10.4161/psb.6.11.17804. Epub 2011 Nov 1.
We review recent results about the functioning of aquatic carnivorous traps from the genus Utricularia. The use of high speed cameras has helped to elucidate the mechanism at the origin of the ultra fast capture process of Utricularia, at a millisecond time scale. As water is pumped out of the trap, pressure decreases inside the trap and elastic energy is stored due to the change of shape of the trap body. This energy is suddenly released when the trap is fired: the trap door undergoes an elastical instability--buckling--which allows its fast and passive opening and closure. This mechanism is used by Utricularia both to catch preys touching its trigger hairs and to fire spontaneously at regular time intervals. The results leading to this interpretation are reviewed and discussed and suggestions for further work are briefly presented.
我们回顾了关于狸藻属水生肉食性陷阱功能的最新研究成果。高速摄像机的使用有助于阐明狸藻超快捕捉过程的机制，其时间尺度达到毫秒级。当水从陷阱中抽出时，陷阱内部的压力降低，由于陷阱体形状的变化而储存弹性能量。当陷阱被触发时，这种能量会突然释放：陷阱门经历弹性不稳定性——屈曲——这允许其快速和被动的打开和关闭。狸藻利用这种机制来捕捉触及其触发毛的猎物，并定期自发地进行射击。我们回顾和讨论了得出这一解释的结果，并简要提出了进一步研究的建议。
