title: Venus flytrap carnivorous lifestyle builds on herbivore defense strategies.
abstract: Although the concept of botanical carnivory has been known since Darwin's time, the molecular mechanisms that allow animal feeding remain unknown, primarily due to a complete lack of genomic information. Here, we show that the transcriptomic landscape of the Dionaea trap is dramatically shifted toward signal transduction and nutrient transport upon insect feeding, with touch hormone signaling and protein secretion prevailing. At the same time, a massive induction of general defense responses is accompanied by the repression of cell death-related genes/processes. We hypothesize that the carnivory syndrome of Dionaea evolved by exaptation of ancient defense pathways, replacing cell death with nutrient acquisition.
authors.affiliation: Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, Campus Hubland Nord; Department of Bioinformatics, Biocenter, Am Hubland, University of Würzburg, D-97218 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Felix
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6557-4898
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bemm
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97082 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97082 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Larisch
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97082 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kreuzer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97082 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Escalante-Perez
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Systems Biology, University of Hohenheim, 70593 Stuttgart, Germany;
authors.forename: Waltraud X
authors.initials: WX
authors.lastname: Schulze
authors.affiliation: Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, Campus Hubland Nord; Department of Bioinformatics, Biocenter, Am Hubland, University of Würzburg, D-97218 Würzburg, Germany; Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Biocenter, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ankenbrand
authors.affiliation: Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, Campus Hubland Nord; Department of Bioinformatics, Biocenter, Am Hubland, University of Würzburg, D-97218 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Anna-Lena
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Van de Weyer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97082 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Krol
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97082 Würzburg, Germany; Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia;
authors.forename: Khaled A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Al-Rasheid
authors.affiliation: Bioorganic Chemistry Department, Max-Planck-Institute for Chemical Ecology, 07745 Jena, Germany;
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mithöfer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biochemistry, Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS), Heinrich-Heine-University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, Campus Hubland Nord; Department of Bioinformatics, Biocenter, Am Hubland, University of Würzburg, D-97218 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology and Biophysics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, 97082 Würzburg, Germany;
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3224-1362
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hedrich
mesh_terms: D031257:Droseraceae / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018745:Genome, Plant; D060434:Herbivory; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins