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. 2021 Mar 16;10:e64250. doi: 10.7554/eLife.64250

Figure 5. DcFLYC1.1 and DcFLYC1.2 localize to touch-sensitive structures of Drosera.

(A) The Cape sundew leaf, showing tentacle projections with mucilage secretions. (B) Image of tentacle bending in response to insect (house fly) touch. Arrowheads mark examples of tentacles that have bent inward. (C) Relative expression of DcFLYC1.1 and DcFLYC1.2 in sundew tentacles versus tentacle-less leaves by qRT-PCR. **p<0.005, moderated t-test, results from four biological replicates of each tissue type. (D) Toluidine blue–stained longitudinal section through the head and upper neck of a Cape sundew tentacle. The head is composed of xylem (X), an endodermis-like layer (E), and secretory cells (S). (E) Max projection image, at low (left) and high magnification (right), showing collective localization of DcFLYC1.1 and DcFLYC1.2 mRNAs to the outer secretory cells of the tentacle head (top). Arrows indicate example secretory cells with DcFLYC puncta. No signal above background was observed in the leaf (bottom). Scale bar, µm.

Figure 5.

Figure 5—figure supplement 1. Variation in Cape sundew tentacles.

Figure 5—figure supplement 1.

(A) Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image showing mucilage-producing tentacles of different lengths on the Cape sundew leaf blade. An asterisk (*) marks the staging needle. Tentacles increase in length towards the leaf edge. (B) A composite image of three SEM micrographs showing tentacle bending around a D. melanogaster fly. Scale bars, 200 μm.

Figure 5—figure supplement 2. Unique cell morphology of Cape sundew sensory/excretory cells.

Figure 5—figure supplement 2.

Toluidine blue-stained longitudinal section through the head of a Cape sundew tentacle. E, endodermis-like cells; S, outer two layers of secretory cells. Arrows mark the unique cell wall buttresses of a single outer secretory cell, around which membrane crenellations occur. See also Lloyd, 1942.

Figure 5—figure supplement 3. Drosera FLYC functionality.

Figure 5—figure supplement 3.

Macroscopic stretch-activated currents recorded from HEKP1-KO cells transfected with mock (N = 7), DmFLYC1 (N = 10), DcFLCY1.1 (N = 7), DcFLYC1.2 (N = 10), and DcFLYC1.1/1.2 (N = 11) plasmids. Empty vector and DmFLYC1 data are the same as in Figure 4A.