Sponsored Content by ByonoyReviewed by Maria OsipovaJul 24 2024
In this interview, Dr. Skylar Johnson shares her thrilling adventures and groundbreaking research on carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants in the lush rainforests of Borneo.
Image Credit: Byonoy
What distinguishes pitchers from other carnivorous plants and makes them so unique?
Different carnivorous plants use various trapping mechanisms. Consider the Venus flytrap, which folds insects between its leaves, or roots with suction cavities that slurp microorganisms. Nepenthes, on the other hand, take a unique and, in my opinion, clever approach.
The pitcher-shaped leaves have specialized tissue on the rim with fine ridges. When it is dry, insects can walk along it safely.
But when it rains, the rims become slippery. The pitcher's moist surface acts as a deadly trap, causing insects to hydroplane into the cavity, drowning and providing vital nutrients to the plant. It is both insidious and clever, demonstrating nature's cunning adaptations.
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The deadly trap that drowns insects resembles a black hole. Is this the focus of your research?
Exactly. I am looking at the fluid that drains the insects from the pitcher. This soup consists of water and digestive enzymes. However, the composition appears to vary among Nepenthes species.
One example is the soup's viscoelastic component, which helps form the ribbons on the pitcher's surface and the various proteases and phosphatases that aid digestion.
My main goal is to determine what is in the soup inside the pitchers and how the plant regulates these components over the pitchers' lifetime. Nepenthes can live long, but these capturing structures only last about 6 to 8 weeks.
Could you describe some of the bottlenecks and challenges you have faced?
One of the most significant challenges is studying plants in their natural environment. While a lot of biochemistry can be done on a lab bench, plants grow outside. In this sense, the portability of field equipment is the main bottleneck in our current research.
Some groups have conducted good laboratory research, inducing protease expression after feeding the plants. However, pitchers are not fed or monitored for 48 hours in the wild, so there is a lot more variability. In nature, these plants are exposed to a wider range of stimuli, and insects crawling over the edge of the pitcher may or may not fall in.
How did you utilize Byonoy GmbH’s devices in your project to understand these mechanisms in their natural environment?
Our project focused on investigating the fluid composition within the pitchers, using spectrophotometers as our primary analytical tools. These devices' portability proved useful during our Borneo field trip, allowing us to conduct experiments at field workstations.
We investigated the digestive properties of pitcher fluid by measuring protein concentrations and performing protease assays with Absorbance One. The Absorbance 96 enabled us to analyze sugar levels using total carbohydrate assays. The data is now the foundation for ongoing research, and we intend to submit a manuscript soon.
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What was your experimental setup like, and how was your expedition working in the wilderness?
Borneo's botanical diversity is truly astounding—some plants mimic others simply for the sake of doing so, resulting in an intriguing environment. Despite being consistently waterlogged, the bog provided an immersive experience. After the first day, I ditched my boots in favor of sandals, turning it into a beach-themed adventure, which was enjoyable.
Our daily routine included checking 16 pitchers on different plants. Every morning, we would extract fluid samples for analysis using a small kit that included test tubes and a pipette.
Because the university was so far away, we set up our improvised laboratory at the field station, which included pH meters, Absorbance 96, and Absorbance One. Everything we needed had to fit into our suitcases, so it was quite an adventurous and resourceful endeavor.
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Which specific feature of Byonoy GmbH’s devices did you enjoy the most? How do you think their use influenced your research?
One of the most appealing aspects of Byonoy GmbH’s devices is their portability. This was critical during our experiments because transporting samples to the nearest university, a two-and-a-half-hour drive, was not feasible. The convenience of conducting analyses on-site was crucial.
In addition, the user-friendly software was a major plus. Its simplicity streamlined the process and saved significant time. Finally, the spectrophotometers were extremely reliable; repeated measurements consistently produced accurate and dependable results.
How did the portability of Byonoy GmbH’s devices help you overcome challenges during your trip?
The other spectrophotometers and microplate readers in the lab are too large to be carried or transported in a suitcase on such an expedition. The portability of Byonoy GmbH’s devices made the entire experiment possible. Otherwise, there would have been no way to conduct experiments in the woods or bog.
Do you have any exciting plans for future experiments, particularly regarding incorporating Byonoy GmbH’s devices into your upcoming projects?
We have exciting plans to investigate plant-pathogen interactions. One of the key assays on our agenda is measuring reactive oxygen species, and the Absorbance 96, with its specific wavelengths, meets all of the requirements for this type of assay.
We intend to conduct an ELISA assay to examine specific proteins in the pitcher fluid, and the ability to measure at multiple wavelengths with Absorbance 96 will be useful.
About Skylar Johnson
Dr. Skylar Johnson, captivated by the allure of pitcher plants, pursued her Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Sciences at Washington State University (USA). She then joined Dr. Ulrike Bauer's lab at the University of Bristol to delve into the study of Nepenthes pitcher plants. Her research took her to the verdant rainforests of Brunei Darussalam on the island of Borneo, where she spent three months investigating the region's botanical marvels.
About Byonoy
The Byonoy GmbH was founded in 2015 as a spin-off from the University of Kiel and is situated in Hamburg. Our core competence is to develop innovative microplate readers based on photometric measurements for laboratory use.
Our aim is to facilitate the research and development process, to give researchers new opportunities, and to make the advantages of advanced biotechnological methods accessible to a broad range of laboratories.
For the realization of a successful innovation process our network is a crucial factor. Our partners help us to realize our ideas and we are glad to share our expertise with them.
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