Effects of Ion Exposure on Venus Flytrap Trap Closure Speed (2024)

Undergraduates: Jared Renneker, Luke Hepler, Vivian Workman

Faculty Advisor: Christopher Willet
Department: Biology

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The Venus flytrap is an unprecedentedly unique species native to eastern North Carolina. It relies on the evolved feature of a snap trap mechanism controlled by an action potential, which is triggered by mechanical stimulation, to capture prey in its nutrient-poor environment. Because prey capture depends on speed of trap closure after stimulation by prey, trap closure speed is a critical factor for plant survival. Our experiments examined the effects of varying concentrations of potassium and sodium ions as well as a mixed solution of equal parts potassium and sodium ions compared to deionized water on individual trap closure speed. We hypothesized that increasing sodium and potassium ion concentrations and exposure times would cause decreased trap closure speeds, as exposure to ion concentrations would interfere with the snap-trap mechanism action potential. We found that potassium ion, as well as its concentration, but not sodium ion or exposure time period, had an effect, decreasing trap closure speed. This provides implications for the importance of decreasing potassium-containing runoff in order to ensure the survival of the species.