• Here, enzymatic activity of five hydrolases was measured fluorometrically in the fluid collected from traps of four aquatic Utricularia species and in the water in which the plants were cultured. • In empty traps, the highest activity was always exhibited by phosphatases (6.1-29.8 µmol l-1 h-1 ) and β-glucosidases (1.35-2.95 µmol l-1 h-1 ), while the activities of α-glucosidases, β-hexosaminidases and aminopeptidases were usually lower by one or two orders of magnitude. Two days after addition of prey (Chydorus sp.), all enzymatic activities in the traps noticeably decreased in Utricularia foliosa and U. australis but markedly increased in Utricularia vulgaris. • Phosphatase activity in the empty traps was 2-18 times higher than that in the culture water at the same pH of 4.7, but activities of the other trap enzymes were usually higher in the water. Correlative analyses did not show any clear relationship between these activities. • Trap comensals (Euglena) could be partly responsible for production of some trap enzymes. The traps can produce phosphatases independently of catching prey. Taking into account the enzymatic activities in traps, phosphorus uptake from prey might be more important than that of nitrogen for the plants.

Faculty of Biological Sciences University of South Bohemia Branišovská 31 CZ 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Hydrobiological Institute AS CR Na Sádkách 7 CZ 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

Institute of Botany AS CR Section of Plant Ecology Dukelská 135 CZ 37982 Třeboň Czech Republic

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Adamec L. 1997a. Photosynthetic characteristics of the aquatic carnivorous plant Aldrovanda vesiculosa. Aquatic Botany 59: 297 - 306.

Adamec L. 1997b. How to grow Aldrovanda vesiculosa outdoors. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 26: 85 - 88.

Adamec L. 1999. The biology and cultivation of red Australian Aldrovanda vesiculosa. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 28: 128 - 132.

Adowa AN. 1924. Zur Frage nach den Fermenten von Utricularia vulgaris L. II. Der relative Gehalt der Blasen und Zweige von Utricularia vulgaris an Proteoklastischen Fermenten. Biochemische Zeitung 153: 506 - 509.

Bern AL. 1997. Studies on nitrogen and phosphorus uptake by the carnivorous bladderwort, Utricularia foliosa, in south Florida wetlands. PhD thesis. Miami, FL, USA: Florida International University.

Botta SM. 1976. Sobre las trampas y las víctimas o presas de algunas especies argentinas del género Utricularia. Darwiniana 20: 127 - 154.

Clancy FGA, Coffey MD. 1976. Acid phosphatase and protease release by the insectivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia. Canadian Journal of Botany 56: 480 - 488.

Cohn F. 1875. Über die Function der Blasen von Aldrovanda und Utricularia. Beiträge Zur Biologie der Pflanzen 1: 71 - 92.

Friday LE, Quarmby C. 1994. Uptake and translocation of prey-derived 15N and 32P in Utricularia vulgaris L. New Phytologist 126: 273 - 281.

Hada Y. 1930. The feeding habits of Utricularia. Transactions of the Sapporo Natural History Society 11: 175 - 183.

Hegner RW. 1926. The interrelationships of protozoa and the utricles of Utricularia. Biological Bulletin 50: 239 - 270.

Heslop-Harrison Y. 1975. Enzyme release in carnivorous plants. In: Dingle JT, Dean RT, eds. Lysozymes in biology and pathology , Vol. 4. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: North Holland Publishing, 525 - 578.

Hoppe HG. 1983. Significance of exoenzymatic activities in the ecology of brackish water: measurements by means of methylumbelliferyl-substrates. Marine Ecology Progress Series 11: 299 - 308.

Hoppe HG. 1993. Use of fluorogenic model substrates for extracellular enzyme activity (EEA) measurement of bacteria. In: Kemp PF, Sherr BF, Sherr EB, Cole JJ, eds. Handbook of methods in aquatic microbial ecology. Boca Raton, FL, USA: Lewis Publishing, 423 - 431.

Jaffe K, Michelangeli F, Gonzales JM, Miras B, Ruiz MC. 1992. Carnivory in pitcher plants of the genus Heliamphora (Sarraceniaceae). New Phytologist 122: 733 - 744.

Jobson RW, Morris EC. 2001. Feeding ecology of a carnivorous bladderwort (Utricularia uliginosa, Lentibulariaceae). Australian Ecology 26: 680 - 691.

Jobson RW, Morris EC, Burgin S. 2000. Carnivory and nitrogen supply affect the growth of the bladderwort Utricularia uliginosa. Australian Journal of Botany 48: 549 - 560.

Juniper BE, Robins RJ, Joel DM. 1989. The carnivorous plants. London, UK: Academic Press.

Knight SE. 1988. The ecophysiological significance of carnivory in Utricularia vulgaris. PhD thesis. Madison, WI, USA: University of Wisconsin.

Von Luetzelberg P. 1910. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Utricularia. Flora 100: 145 - 212.

Marx MC, Wood M, Jarvis SC. 2001. A microplate fluorimetric assay for the study of enzyme diversity in soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 33: 1633 - 1640.

Nedoma J, Strojsová A, Vrba J, Komárková J, Simek K. 2003. Extracellular phosphatase activity of natural plankton studied with ELF97 phosphate: fluorescence quantification and labelling kinetics. Environmental Microbiology 5: 462 - 472. PubMed

Parkes DM. 1980. Adaptive mechanisms of surfaces and glands in some carnivorous plants. MSc thesis. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: Monash University.

Richards JH. 2001. Bladder function in Utricularia purpurea (Lentibulariaceae): is carnivory important? American Journal of Botany 88: 170 - 176. PubMed

Robins RJ, Juniper BE. 1980. The secretory cycle of Dionaea muscipula Ellis. IV. The enzymology of the secretion. New Phytologist 86: 401 - 412.

Schumacher GJ. 1960. Further notes on the occurrence of desmids in Utricularia bladders. Castanea 25: 62 - 65.

Sydenham PH, Findlay GP. 1975. Transport of solutes and water by resetting bladders of Utricularia. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 2: 335 - 351.

Taylor P. 1989. The Genus Utricularia: a taxonomic monograph. Kew Bulletin Additional Series XIV. London, UK: HMSO.

Tökés ZA, Woon WC, Chambers SM. 1974. Digestive enzymes secreted by the carnivorous plant Nepenthes macfarlanei L. Planta 119: 39 - 46.

Vintéjoux C. 1973. Études des aspects ultrastructuraux de certaines cellules glandulaires and raport avec leuc activité sécrétive chez l’Utricularia neglecta L. (Lentibulariaceae). Comptes Rendues 277D: 2345 - 2348.

Vintéjoux C. 1974. Ultrastructural and cytochemical observations on the digestive glands of Utricularia neglecta L. (Lentibulariaceae). Distribution of protease and acid phosphatase activities. Portugaliae Acta Biologica Seriea A 14: 463 - 471.

Genomic Signatures of Adaptation to Stress Reveal Shared Evolutionary Trends Between Tetrahymena utriculariae and Its Algal Endosymbiont, Micractinium tetrahymenae

Alternative or cytochrome? Respiratory pathways in traps of aquatic carnivorous bladderwort Utricularia reflexa

Cytokinins and auxins in organs of aquatic carnivorous plants: what do they reflect?

Recent ecophysiological, biochemical and evolutional insights into plant carnivory

Welcome to the Czech Republic again! Rare northern mosses Calliergon megalophyllum and Drepanocladus sordidus (Amblystegiaceae) in South Bohemia in light of their European distribution and habitat preferences

Metatranscriptome analysis reveals host-microbiome interactions in traps of carnivorous Genlisea species

A novel insight into the cost-benefit model for the evolution of botanical carnivory

Dinitrogen fixation associated with shoots of aquatic carnivorous plants: is it ecologically important?

Feeding on prey increases photosynthetic efficiency in the carnivorous sundew Drosera capensis

The smallest but fastest: ecophysiological characteristics of traps of aquatic carnivorous Utricularia

Oxygen concentrations inside the traps of the carnivorous plants Utricularia and Genlisea (Lentibulariaceae)