Stretch-activated ion channels identified in the touch-sensitive structures of carnivorous Droseraceae plants

• Published in: eLife Vol. 10
• Main Authors: Procko, Carl, Murthy, Swetha, Keenan, William T, Mousavi, Seyed Ali Reza, Dabi, Tsegaye, Coombs, Adam, Procko, Erik, Baird, Lisa, Patapoutian, Ardem, Chory, Joanne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Science Publications, Ltd 16.03.2021; eLife Sciences Publications Ltd; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Amino acids; Animals; Calcium Channels - genetics; Calcium Channels - metabolism; Carnivorous Plant - genetics; Carnivorous Plant - metabolism; Cell Biology; Chloride currents; Dionaea; Dionaea muscipula; Drosera capensis; Droseraceae; Droseraceae - genetics; Droseraceae - metabolism; Flowers & plants; Genes; Genes, Plant; Genomes; Ion channels; Ion Channels - genetics; Ion Channels - metabolism; Ion Transport - genetics; Plant Biology; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Prey; Proteins; Tactile stimuli; Touch; Transcriptome; Transcriptomics; plant biology; cell biology; Drosera capensis; Dionaea muscipula; ion channels
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/elife.64250

In response to touch, some carnivorous plants such as the Venus flytrap have evolved spectacular movements to capture animals for nutrient acquisition. However, the molecules that confer this sensitivity remain unknown. We used comparative transcriptomics to show that expression of three genes encoding homologs of the MscS-Like (MSL) and OSCA/TMEM63 family of mechanosensitive ion channels are localized to touch-sensitive trigger hairs of Venus flytrap. We focus here on the candidate with the most enriched expression in trigger hairs, the MSL homolog FLYCATCHER1 (FLYC1). We show that transcripts are localized to mechanosensory cells within the trigger hair, transfecting induces chloride-permeable stretch-activated currents in naïve cells, and transcripts coding for homologs are expressed in touch-sensing cells of Cape sundew, a related carnivorous plant of the Droseraceae family. Our data suggest that the mechanism of prey recognition in carnivorous Droseraceae evolved by co-opting ancestral mechanosensitive ion channels to sense touch.