Date: Thu, 09 Apr 1998 08:59:45 -0400 From: Jack Sullivan <jsulliva@eclipse.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1205$foo@default> Subject: Re: Protozoa-chomping CPs
Richard Ellis wrote:
>
> I would have thought that many of the bladderworts could routinely trap
> protozoa. Is this:
> A. Untrue
> B. Perhaps true but never confirmed
> C. True but unknown to the authors of this paper
> D. None of the above
>
> BTW - thank you for posting about this CP related article!
>
Your welcome, Richard. I sometimes wonder why I spend the money to
subscribe to Nature (as well as Science), as well as spend the time
needed to scan them for articles of interest, but on occasion a little
pearl like this one does drop into my lap.
The major point of the note is that this is the first known case of a
plant that traps and digests protozoa. "...proof of the plant's
carnivorous nature was previously lacking," it states. Also: "...but
there has been no proof of carnivory." It concludes: "Thus, 125 years
after Charles Darwin's initial postulations [Insectivorous Plants,
1875], the puzzle of Genlisea's feeding habits seems to have been
solved."
I was curiuous enough about this question to pull out the 5 books on cps
that reside in my library to inquire into what's known about the biology
of Genlisea and its relatives. The major supposition (Cultivating
Carnivorous Plants, by Alan A. Swenson [1977], pp. 84-5) is that these
plants (bladderworts) "do lure, catch and eat insects. In fact, these
can rightly be called carnivorous. In addition to insects, they will eat
small crustaceans, worms, fish, diatoms, and protozoans." (He is
referring in particular to Utricularia). Specific reference to Genlisea
is found in 2 other books (Carnivorous Plants of the World, by James and
Patricia Pietropaolo, and The Carnivorous Plants, by Francis E. LLoyd),
but these only compare its habit as being similar to that of
Utricularia. I didn't do an exhaustive search of the literature, but I
found nothing in these references that said "Genlisea eats protozoa" or
anything else.
So, Richard, I can only respond that we may have a mixture of B or C
among your choices. Why don't you email Herr Prof. Dr. Barthlott and ask
his opinion?
Jack Sullivan
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