Venus flytraps, the carnivorous plants famous for their snapping jaws, have another fascinating trick up their sleeves: they generate magnetic fields. A recent study published in Scientific Reports reveals that these fields are produced during the plant’s “action potential,” the electrical signal that triggers the trap’s closure. This discovery sheds light on the complex biophysics of these intriguing plants and opens up exciting avenues for future research.
The research team, based in Germany, used a highly sensitive atomic magnetometer to detect the faint magnetic fields emanating from a Venus flytrap’s jaw. The magnetometer, housed in a magnetically shielded room in Berlin, measured changes in the spin of electrons, allowing the researchers to detect the subtle magnetic fluctuations. This sophisticated approach enabled the detection of fields millions of times weaker than the Earth’s magnetic field.
The lab traps, with the single trap jaw being examined at bottom right.A single Venus flytrap jaw being examined in the lab.
Measuring Magnetic Fields in Plants
While magnetic fields have been previously observed in simpler plants like algae and bean plants, this study marks the first detection of these fields in a complex, multicellular plant system like the Venus flytrap. Previous studies used SQUIDs (Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices) to measure biomagnetism, but these devices are bulky and require extremely low temperatures. The atomic magnetometer used in this study offered a more practical and sensitive approach.
How the Experiment Worked
To stimulate the action potential without physically triggering the trap, the researchers cleverly increased the temperature around the plant. This non-invasive method induced the same electrical signal that occurs when the trap is stimulated by prey. When this action potential coursed through the plant, the atomic magnetometer detected a minute change in the magnetic field, confirming the link between the plant’s electrical activity and magnetic field generation.
Eat up, Venus. You deserve it.A Venus flytrap in its natural habitat.
The Significance of the Findings
The study’s lead author, Anne Fabricant, an atomic physicist at the Helmholtz Institute in Mainz, Germany, explained that the existence of a magnetic field was expected, as moving electrical charges invariably produce both electric and magnetic fields. The challenge lay in detecting these incredibly faint fields. The team successfully measured signals with an amplitude of just 0.5 picoteslas, a testament to the sensitivity of their instrumentation.
Implications for Future Research
This discovery opens exciting possibilities for future research. Understanding how Venus flytraps generate and potentially use magnetic fields could reveal new insights into their physiology and behavior. Furthermore, this research could pave the way for exploring biomagnetism in other plant species and understanding the role of magnetic fields in the broader plant kingdom.
The research confirms that the Venus flytrap, like other plants previously studied, generates a magnetic field in response to an action potential. This finding adds to our understanding of the complex interplay between electricity and magnetism in biological systems and underscores the remarkable sensitivity of modern measurement techniques. The ability to detect these subtle magnetic signals opens up a new window into the hidden world of plant communication and behavior.
