title: Plant pressure sensitive adhesives: similar chemical properties in distantly related plant lineages.
abstract: A mixture of resins based on aliphatic esters and carboxylic acids occurs in distantly related genera Peperomia and Roridula , serving different functions as adhesion in seed dispersal and prey capture. According to mechanical characteristics, adhesive secretions on both leaves of the carnivorous flypaper Roridula gorgonias and epizoochorous fruits of Peperomia polystachya were expected to be similar. The chemical analysis of these adhesives turned out to be challenging because of the limited available mass for analysis. Size exclusion chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were suitable methods for the identification of a mixture of compounds, most appropriately containing natural resins based on aliphatic esters and carboxylic acids. The IR spectra of the Peperomia and Roridula adhesive resemble each other; they correspond to that of a synthetic ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, but slightly differ from that of natural tree resins. Thus, the pressure sensitive adhesive properties of the plant adhesives are chemically proved. Such adhesives seem to appear independently in distantly related plant lineages, habitats, life forms, as well as plant organs, and serve different functions such as prey capture in Roridula and fruit dispersal in Peperomia. However, more detailed chemical analyses still remain challenging because of the small available volume of plant adhesive.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Botany, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frenzke
authors.affiliation: Analytical Department, Leibniz-Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Hohe Str. 6, 01069, Dresden, Germany.|Technische Universität Dresden, 01062, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Albena
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lederer
authors.affiliation: Analytical Department, Leibniz-Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Hohe Str. 6, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Malanin
authors.affiliation: Analytical Department, Leibniz-Institute of Polymer Research Dresden, Hohe Str. 6, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaus-Jochen
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Eichhorn
authors.affiliation: Institute for Botany, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neinhuis
authors.affiliation: Institute for Botany, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069, Dresden, Germany. dagmar.voigt@tu-dresden.de.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2772-8504
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Voigt
mesh_terms: D000269:Adhesives / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D017753:Ecosystem; D005638:Fruit / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D007313:Insecta / Q000502:physiology; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology; D036941:Peperomia / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D011145:Polyvinyls / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D058614:Seed Dispersal / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D000269:Adhesives; D011145:Polyvinyls; C016438:ethylenevinylacetate copolymer
keywords: Carnivory; Epizoochory; FTIR; Peperomia polystachya; Resin; Roridula gorgonias