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The Coordinate Regulation Of Digestive Enzymes In The Pitchers Of Nepenthes Ventricosa, Zephyr Anne Lenninger

Honors Program Theses

Many species of plants have adopted carnivory as a way to obtain supplementary nutrients from otherwise nutrient deficient environments. One such species, Nepenthes ventricosa, is characterized by a pitcher shaped passive trap. This trap is filled with a digestive fluid that consists of many different digestive enzymes, the majority of which seem to have been recruited from pathogen resistance systems. The present study attempted to determine whether the introduction of a prey stimulus will coordinately up-regulate the enzymatic expression of a chitinase and a protease while also identifying specific chitinases that are expressed by Nepenthes ventricosa. We were able to …