| Autor: |
Saikia E; Institute for Building Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zürich), 8093 Zurich, Switzerland., Läubli NF; Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland., Burri JT; Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland., Rüggeberg M; Institute for Building Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zürich), 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.; Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology-Empa, Cellulose & Wood Materials Laboratory, 8600 Dubendorf, Switzerland., Vogler H; Department of Plant and Microbial Biology & Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland., Burgert I; Institute for Building Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zürich), 8093 Zurich, Switzerland.; Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology-Empa, Cellulose & Wood Materials Laboratory, 8600 Dubendorf, Switzerland., Herrmann HJ; Institute for Building Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zürich), 8093 Zurich, Switzerland., Nelson BJ; Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland., Grossniklaus U; Department of Plant and Microbial Biology & Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center, University of Zurich, 8008 Zurich, Switzerland., Wittel FK; Institute for Building Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zürich), 8093 Zurich, Switzerland. |
| Abstrakt: |
Insects fall prey to the Venus flytrap ( Dionaea muscipula ) when they touch the sensory hairs located on the flytrap lobes, causing sudden trap closure. The mechanical stimulus imparted by the touch produces an electrical response in the sensory cells of the trigger hair. These cells are found in a constriction near the hair base, where a notch appears around the hair's periphery. There are mechanosensitive ion channels (MSCs) in the sensory cells that open due to a change in membrane tension; however, the kinematics behind this process is unclear. In this study, we investigate how the stimulus acts on the sensory cells by building a multi-scale hair model, using morphometric data obtained from μ-CT scans. We simulated a single-touch stimulus and evaluated the resulting cell wall stretch. Interestingly, the model showed that high stretch values are diverted away from the notch periphery and, instead, localized in the interior regions of the cell wall. We repeated our simulations for different cell shape variants to elucidate how the morphology influences the location of these high-stretch regions. Our results suggest that there is likely a higher mechanotransduction activity in these 'hotspots', which may provide new insights into the arrangement and functioning of MSCs in the flytrap. |
