ArticleAnnals of botany2025
Carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants combine common developmental processes to make a complex epidermal trapping surface.
Article in Annals of botany, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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4 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Localization of Cell Wall Components in the Whole-Mount ImmunolabeledInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Construction costs and tradeoffs in carnivorous pitcher plant leaves: towards a pitcher leaf economics spectrum.Annals of botany · 2025Review
- External Glands ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025Article
- Rearranging development makes a slippery slope: a commentary on 'Carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants combine common developmental processes to make a complex epidermal trapping surface'.Annals of botany · 2025Article
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3 authors.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsA hierarchical micro-topography of ridges and steps renders the trap rim of carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants unusually wettable, and slippery for insects when wet. This complex three-dimensional epidermis structure forms, hidden from plain sight, inside the still-closed developing pitcher bud. Here, we reveal the sequence of epidermal patterning events that shape the trap rim. By linking this sequence to externally visible markers of bud development, we provide a framework for targeting individual stages of surface development in future studies.
methodsWe used cryo-scanning electron microscopy to investigate the detailed morphogenesis and epidermal patterning of the Nepenthes × hookeriana pitcher rim. In addition, we collected morphometric and qualitative data from developing pitcher traps including those sampled for microscopy. KEY
resultsWe identified three consecutive patterning events. First, strictly oriented cell divisions resulted in radially aligned rows of cells and established a macroscopic ridge-and-groove pattern. Next, conical papillate cells formed, and papillae elongated towards the trap interior, increasingly overlapping adjacent cells and eventually forming continuous microscopic ridges. In between these ridges, the flattened papillae formed acutely angled arched steps. Finally, the cells elongated radially, thereby establishing the convex collar shape of the rim. This general sequence of surface development also showed a spatial progression from the outer to the inner trap rim edge, with several consecutive developmental stages co-occurring at any given time.
conclusionsWe demonstrate that the complex surface micro-topography of the Nepenthes pitcher rim develops by sequentially combining widespread, evolutionarily conserved epidermal patterning processes in a new way. This makes the Nepenthes trap rim an excellent model for studying epidermal patterning mechanisms in leaves.
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