RT Journal Article
T1 The carnivorous plant Genlisea harnesses active particle dynamics to prey on microfauna
A1 Martín Roca, José
A1 Barriuso Gutiérrez, Carlos Miguel
A1 Martínez Fernández, Raúl
A1 Betterelli Giuliano, Camila
A1 Zhang, Rongjing
A1 Valeriani, Chantal
A1 Wilson, Laurence G.
AB Carnivory in plants is an unusual trait that has arisen multiple times, independently, throughout evolutionary history. Plants in the genus Genlisea are carnivorous and feed on microorganisms that live in soil using modified subterranean leaf structures (rhizophylls). A surprisingly broad array of microfauna has been observed in the plants’ digestive chambers, including ciliates, amoebae, and soil mites. Here, we show, through experiments and simulations, that Genlisea exploit active matter physics to “rectify” bacterial swimming and establish a local flux of bacteria through the structured environment of the rhizophyll toward the plant’s digestion vesicle. In contrast, macromolecular digestion products are free to diffuse away from the digestion vesicle and establish a concentration gradient of carbon sources to draw larger microorganisms further inside the plant. Our experiments and simulations show that this mechanism is likely to be a localized one and that no large-scale efflux of digested matter is present.
PB National Academy of Sciences
SN 0027-8424
YR 2025
FD 2025-12-31
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/134477
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/134477
LA eng
NO J. Martín-Roca,C.M. Barriuso G.,R. Martínez Fernández,C. Betterelli Giuliano,R. Zhang,C. Valeriani, & L.G. Wilson,  The carnivorous plant Genlisea harnesses active particle dynamics to prey on microfauna, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122 (1) e2409510121, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2409510121 (2025).
NO Rowland Institute at Harvard (Estados Unidos)
NO Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (Brasil)
NO Ministerio de Economía, Comercio y Empresa (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 30 abr 2026