ibclogo XVI International Botanical Congess


Abstract Number: 3017
Poster No. = 2024


PATHWAYS FOR NUTRIENT TRANSPORT IN THE PITCHERS OF THE CARNIVOROUS PLANT NEPENTHES ALATA


T. Page Owen, Jr., Matthew J. Santo, and Kristen A. Lennon, Dept. of Botany, Connecticut College, New London, CT 06320


Digestive glands of the carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes alata are involved in both secretion and absorption. The apoplastic tracer lanthanum, and the symplastic fluorescent tracer 6(5)carboxyfluorescein, were used to examine the potential for bi-directional transport through the glands. Uptake of lanthanum occurred through the cell walls of the outer gland, between irregularly spaced cutinized deposits, but was blocked from entering the walls of the underlying mesophyll by an endodermal-like region. Use of the symplastic tracer 6(5)carboxyfluorescein showed that the glands transport fluids directly into the adjacent vascular system, but that secretion from the glands was developmentally regulated. Supported by a grant from the Keck Undergraduate Science Program to MJS.


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