Ion channels, excitability, and memory: lessons learnt from the Venus flytrap

Title: Ion channels, excitability, and memory: lessons learnt from the Venus flytrap

Speaker: Prof Rainer Hedrich (Shenzhen University of Science and Technology (SUAT), China)

Abstract: Over 100 years ago, Charles Darwin recognized that the Venus flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, thrives in nutrient-poor soil by capturing animals. An animal is recognized as potential food when it triggers two action potentials (APs). Excitation-contraction coupling closes the trap within 0.1 sec. We have studied the trigger hair biomechanics, such as the force-AP relationship, and determined the transcriptomic landscape of the mechanosensor. When an animal prey wandering on the open trap touches a trigger hair, an AP gets fired. This 1st AP is memorized by the trap for 20 sec. Another touch within 20 sec triggers the 2nd AP that shuts the trap in fraction of a second. Indeed, the plant counts the prey contact-induced action potentials, which travel throughout the entire trap. We have investigated the underlying haptoelectric stimulation by molecular cell biological and biophysical techniques. Besides understanding Venus flytrap prey capture, we are interested in the evolution of carnivory, which will also be discussed in the seminar.

Bio: Professor Hedrich received his Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen in 1985 and was appointed full professor at the University of Hannover in 1991. From 1996 to 2024, he served at the University of Würzburg, where he held positions as department chair and institute director. In 2005, he was elected a member of the German National Academy of Sciences. Since 2025, he has held a professorship at the Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology. Prof. Hedrich’s research has shaped the field of electrophysiology and bioelectric signaling in plants, as reflected in over 430 publications, including more than 10 in Nature and Science, with a total citation count exceeding 41,000, an H-index of 116, and an H10-index of 331.