Wissenschaftler haben endlich das Rätsel gelöst, wie Venusfliegenfallen zuklappen – Molekulare Mechanismen könnten neue Techniken inspirieren, die weichen Robotern und anderen intelligenten Materialien helfen, sich ohne Muskeln zu bewegen

[Full paper](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aed5051) by Ryu et al. and excerpts from [article](https://gizmodo.com/scientists-finally-solved-the-mystery-of-how-venus-flytraps-snap-shut-2000771133) by Ed Cara:

*[…] “Overall, our findings establish the Venus flytrap not only as a key model for fast plant signaling but also as a powerful system to study dynamic cell wall mechanics,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published Thursday in Science.*

*Flytraps are some of the strangest living things in the world. Unlike most other plants, they can rapidly respond to animals, and they do so for the sake of a meal. The plant’s two leafy lobes (the titular trap) shut in response to insect prey triggering the hairs found inside, sealing the hapless bug inside so the plant’s digestive enzymes can break it down into a nutritious juice.*

*Remarkably, all of this is done without the need for muscles.*

*[…] According to the research team, led by Jeongeun Ryu, there have been two major hypotheses to explain this. One involves the moving of water to the outer cells of its lobes; this might be akin to someone pushing a door closed. The other theorizes the walls of these outer cells suddenly relax, releasing the built-up energy inward; this might be like someone letting go of a spring they’ve been pushing on.*

*In this new study, the researchers tried to empirically look for the signs of either mechanism happening in flytraps as their lobes began to close shut.*

*Ultimately, they found that water moved too slowly across cells during the initial closing of a plant’s lobes for it to be the main driver of this action. Instead, they observed a rapid, one-second-long “softening of the epidermal cell wall, releasing elastic energy stored in the trap.”*

*The flytrap’s cell trick appears to represent “the fastest modulation of wall mechanics reported in plants,” the researchers wrote. And it might help inspire new techniques to help soft robots and other smart materials move without muscles, they add. That said, future studies will still need to work out the precise molecular method for this softening in the plant.*

Reads like an SC2 WoL campaign upgrade