Abstract
The trap of Aldrovanda vesiculosa, an aquatic insectivorous plant, consists of a pair of lobes (trap-lobes). There is a central region in trap-lobes that is composed of three cell layers and has some sensory hairs. Bending of the sensory hairs cause the decrease of turgor in inner cells and then trap-lobes close.
In the former report, we showed that various Ca2+ channel blockers had no effect on the movement, but EGTA inhibited the closing although it took longer than 2 hours. We also found that Tetrandorine, and Tetracaine inhibited the closing.
In the present study, we found, using a conventional microelectrode method, that the excitability of cells in the central region under Tetrandrine and Tetracaine treatment was not affected. But, PAO completely diminished the action potential. .
We further analyze the effect of these inhibitors on the sensory hairs. The role of Ca2+ signaling in the closing is discussed.
