Variations in the Content and Isozymic Composition of Nepenthesin in the Pitcher Fluids among Nepenthes Species
نویسندگان
چکیده
KENJI TAKAHASHI • Laboratory of Molecular Biochemistry • School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences • 1432-1 Horinouchi, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0392 • Japan • [email protected] MASAO TANJI • Department of Biophysics and Biochemistry • Graduate School of Science • The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 • Japan CHIAKI SHIBATA • Department of Biology • The Nippon Dental University • Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8159 • Japan
منابع مشابه
Nepenthesin Protease Activity Indicates Digestive Fluid Dynamics in Carnivorous Nepenthes Plants
Carnivorous plants use different morphological features to attract, trap and digest prey, mainly insects. Plants from the genus Nepenthes possess specialized leaves called pitchers that function as pitfall-traps. These pitchers are filled with a digestive fluid that is generated by the plants themselves. In order to digest caught prey in their pitchers, Nepenthes plants produce various hydrolyt...
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Nepenthes pitcher plants display interspecific diversity in pitcher form and diets. This species-rich genus might be a conspicuous candidate for an adaptive radiation. However, the pitcher traits of different species have never been quantified in a comparative study, nor have their possible adaptations to the resources they exploit been tested. In this study, we compare the pitcher features and...
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Carnivorous plants are known to secrete acid proteinases to digest prey, mainly insects, for nitrogen uptake. In the present study, we have purified, for the first time, to homogeneity two acid proteinases (nepenthesins I and II) from the pitcher fluid of Nepenthes distillatoria (a pitcher-plant known locally as badura) and investigated their enzymic and structural characteristics. Both enzymes...
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Nepenthes pitchers are specialized leaves that function as insect traps. Several pitcher components may contribute to trapping, including the pitcher fluid, slippery wax crystals and downward-pointing epidermal cells on the inner pitcher wall, and the wetness-dependent pitcher rim (peristome), but the relative importance of these traits is unclear. Mechanisms of prey capture and retention in th...
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The genus Nepenthes, a carnivorous plant, has a pitcher to trap insects and digest them in the contained fluid to gain nutrient. A distinctive character of the pitcher fluid is the digestive enzyme activity that may be derived from plants and dwelling microbes. However, little is known about in situ digestive enzymes in the fluid. Here we examined the pitcher fluid from four species of Nepenthe...
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