title: Desiccation resistance of adhesive secretion in the protocarnivorous plant Roridula gorgonias as an adaptation to periodically dry environment.
abstract: To analyse the change of mass in the resinous secretion of Roridula gorgonias, we carried out long-term measurements using a computerised ultra microbalance. In contrast to the aqueous mucilage of other carnivorous flypaper traps, this water-insoluble secretion does not desiccate even in dead and formalin-preserved plants. We found no significant desiccation of secretory drops within 10 h of continuous weighing. After 100 days of the secretion exposure to dry conditions, only about 8% of the mass was lost. Interestingly, returning these samples to humid conditions resulted in a mass recovery to the initial amount. This property of the secretion is discussed as an ecological adaptation to the periodically dry Fynbos habitat of the plant.
authors.affiliation: Evolutionary Biomaterials Group, Department of Thin-Films and Biological Systems, Max-Planck Institute for Metals Research, Heisenbergstraße 03, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany. dvoigt@zoologie.uni-kiel.de
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gorb
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D003890:Desiccation; D055864:Droughts; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000502:physiology*