New Studies on the Venus Flytrap
Although it only lives in a small area of the eastern United States, the Venus flytrap is quite famous. Cultivated versions are available for sale, but in its native habitat, it is endangered. People like to try to trigger it to close, but the Venus flytrap discriminates.
The right areas must be touched a certain number of times, then that 100-millisecond trap springs shut. Potential prey seldom escapes, but this plant is still checking on what was caught. If it had received a false positive, it relaxes. Otherwise, it begins digestion after five more stimuli occur.
Venus Flytrap, Flickr / Mark Freeth (CC BY 2.0) |
The key to such a mechanism is found in a biological process called an action potential (or the all-or-nothing law). It’s a localized, transitory difference in electrical potential occurring across, in this case, the membranes of sensory hair cells. With the right stimuli, “ion channels burst open due to a stretching of their envelope membrane and become electrically conductive.” Put another way, “Venus flytraps detect moving insects via highly sensitive, action potential (AP)-producing trigger hairs, which act as high-sensitivity levers, crucial for prey capture and digestion.”
To read the entire article, see "The Venus Flytrap’s Snap." Does anyone appreciate the irony of my usage of clips with atheist and evolution promoter David Attenborough to illustrate the truth of creation?