Integration of trap- and root-derived nitrogen nutrition of carnivorous Dionaea muscipula

Carnivorous Dionaea muscipula operates active snap traps for nutrient acquisition from prey; so what is the role of D. muscipula's reduced root system? We studied the capacity for nitrogen (N) acquisition via traps, and its effect on plant allometry; the capacity of roots to absorb NO3-, NH4+ and glutamine from the soil solution; and the fate and interaction of foliar- and root-acquired N. Feeding D. muscipula snap traps with insects had little effect on the root:shoot ratio, but promoted petiole relative to trap growth. Large amounts of NH4+ and glutamine were absorbed upon root feeding. The high capacity for root N uptake was maintained upon feeding traps with glutamine. High root acquisition of NH4+ was mediated by 2.5-fold higher expression of the NH4+ transporter DmAMT1 in the roots compared with the traps. Electrophysiological studies confirmed a high constitutive capacity for NH4+ uptake by roots. Glutamine feeding of traps inhibited the influx of N-15 from root-absorbed N-15/C-13-glutamine into these traps, but not that of C-13. Apparently, fed traps turned into carbon sinks that even acquired organic carbon from roots. N acquisition at the whole-plant level is fundamentally different in D. muscipula compared with noncarnivorous species, where foliar N influx down-regulates N uptake by roots.