Mucilage

Last updated
A sundew with a leaf bent around a fly trapped by mucilage Drosera anglica ne4.jpg
A sundew with a leaf bent around a fly trapped by mucilage

Mucilage is a thick gluey substance produced by nearly all plants and some microorganisms. These microorganisms include protists which use it for their locomotion, with the direction of their movement always opposite to that of the secretion of mucilage. [1] It is a polar glycoprotein and an exopolysaccharide. Mucilage in plants plays a role in the storage of water and food, seed germination, and thickening membranes. Cacti (and other succulents) and flax seeds are especially rich sources of mucilage. [2]

Contents

Occurrence

Exopolysaccharides are the most stabilising factor for microaggregates and are widely distributed in soils. Therefore, exopolysaccharide-producing "soil algae" play a vital role in the ecology of the world's soils. The substance covers the outside of, for example, unicellular or filamentous green algae and cyanobacteria. Amongst the green algae especially, the group Volvocales are known to produce exopolysaccharides at a certain point in their life cycle. It occurs in almost all plants, but usually in small amounts. It is frequently associated with substances like tannins and alkaloids. [3]

Mucilage has a unique purpose in some carnivorous plants. The plant genera Drosera (sundews), Pinguicula (butterworts), and others have leaves studded with mucilage-secreting glands, and use a "flypaper trap" to capture insects. [4]

Human uses

Glass container for mucilage, from the first half of the 20th century MODOMucilage.jpg
Glass container for mucilage, from the first half of the 20th century

Mucilage is edible. It is used in medicine as it relieves irritation of mucous membranes by forming a protective film. It is known to act as a soluble, or viscous, dietary fiber that thickens the fecal mass, an example being the consumption of fiber supplements containing psyllium seed husks. [5]

Traditionally, marshmallows were made from the extract of the mucilaginous root of the marshmallow plant ( Althaea officinalis ). The inner bark of the slippery elm (Ulmus rubra), a North American tree species, has long been used as a demulcent and cough medicine, and is still produced commercially for that purpose. [6]

Mucilage mixed with water has been used as a glue, especially for bonding paper items such as labels, postage stamps, and envelope flaps. [7] Differing types and varying strengths of mucilage can also be used for other adhesive applications, including gluing labels to metal cans, wood to china, and leather to pasteboard. [8] During the fermentation of nattō soybeans, extracellular enzymes produced by the bacterium Bacillus natto react with soybean sugars to produce mucilage. The amount and viscosity of the mucilage are important nattō characteristics, contributing to nattō's unique taste and smell.

The mucilage of two kinds of insectivorous plants, sundew (Drosera) [9] and butterwort (Pinguicula), [10] is used for the traditional production of a variant of the yogurt-like Swedish dairy product called filmjölk. [11] [12]

Ecological implications for plants

The presence of mucilage in seeds affects important ecological processes in some plant species, such as tolerance of water stress, competition via allelopathy, or facilitation of germination through attachment to soil particles. [13] [14] [15] Some authors have also suggested a role of seed mucilage in protecting DNA material from irradiation damage. [16] The amount of mucilage produced per seed has been shown to vary across the distribution range of a species, in relation with local environmental conditions of the populations. [17]

A variety of maize grows aerial roots that produce a sweet mucus. The Sierra Mixe is a tall variety that survives in poor soils without fertilizer in Oaxaca, Mexico, and the mucilage has been shown to support nitrogen fixation through bacteria that thrive in its high-sugar, low-oxygen environment. [18]

Plant sources

The following plant and algae species are known to contain far greater concentrations of mucilage than typical:

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Drosera</i> Genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Droseraceae

Drosera, which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginous glands covering their leaf surfaces. The insects are used to supplement the poor mineral nutrition of the soil in which the plants grow. Various species, which vary greatly in size and form, are native to every continent except Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Droseraceae</span> Family of carnivorous flowering plants

Droseraceae is a family of carnivorous flowering plants, also known as the sundew family. It consists of approximately 180 species in three extant genera, the vast majority being in the sundew genus Drosera. The family also contains the well-known Venus flytrap and the more obscure waterwheel plant, both of which are the only living species of their respective genera. Representatives of the Droseraceae are found on all continents except Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psyllium</span> Plant used as a dietary fiber

Psyllium, or ispaghula, is the common name used for several members of the plant genus Plantago whose seeds are used commercially for the production of mucilage. Psyllium is mainly used as a dietary fiber to relieve symptoms of both constipation and mild diarrhea, and occasionally as a food thickener. Allergy to psyllium is common in workers frequently exposed to the substance.

<i>Drosophyllum</i> Genus of carnivorous plants

Drosophyllum is a genus of carnivorous plants containing the single species Drosophyllum lusitanicum, commonly known as Portuguese sundew or dewy pine. In appearance, it is similar to the related genus Drosera, and to the much more distantly related Byblis.

<i>Drosera capillaris</i> Species of carnivorous plant native to subtropical to tropical North and South America

Drosera capillaris, also known as the pink sundew, is a species of carnivorous plant belonging to the family Droseraceae. It is native to the southern United States, the Greater Antilles, western and southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It is listed as vulnerable in the US state of Virginia, and critically imperiled in Arkansas, Maryland, and Tennessee.

<i>Drosera capensis</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Drosera capensis, commonly known as the Cape sundew, is a small rosette-forming carnivorous species of perennial sundew native to the Cape in South Africa. Because of its size, easy-to-grow nature, and the copious amounts of seed it produces, it has become one of the most common sundews in cultivation, and thus, one of the most frequently introduced and naturalised invasive Drosera species.

<i>Drosera rotundifolia</i> Species of flowering plant in the sundew family Droseraceae

Drosera rotundifolia, the round-leaved sundew, roundleaf sundew, or common sundew, is a carnivorous species of flowering plant that grows in bogs, marshes and fens. One of the most widespread sundew species, it has a circumboreal distribution, being found in all of northern Europe, much of Siberia, large parts of northern North America, Korea and Japan but is also found as far south as California, Mississippi and Alabama in the United States of America and in New Guinea.

<i>Drosera regia</i> Species of carnivorous plant in the family Droseraceaea endemic to a single valley in South Africa

Drosera regia, commonly known as the king sundew, is a carnivorous plant in the sundew genus Drosera that is endemic to a single valley in South Africa. The genus name Drosera comes from the Greek word droseros, meaning "dew-covered". The specific epithet regia is derived from the Latin for "royal", a reference to the "striking appearance" of the species. Individual leaves can reach 70 cm (28 in) in length. It has many unusual relict characteristics not found in most other Drosera species, including woody rhizomes, operculate pollen, and the lack of circinate vernation in scape growth. All of these factors, combined with molecular data from phylogenetic analysis, contribute to the evidence that D. regia possesses some of the most ancient characteristics within the genus. Some of these are shared with the related Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), which suggests a close evolutionary relationship.

<i>Pinguicula lusitanica</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula lusitanica, commonly known as the pale butterwort, is a small butterwort that grows wild in acidic peat bog areas along coastal atlantic western Europe from western Scotland and Ireland south through western England and western France to the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco in north-western Africa.

<i>Drosera anglica</i> Species of carnivorous flowering plant in the family Droseraceae

Drosera anglica, commonly known as the English sundew or great sundew, is a carnivorous flowering plant species belonging to the sundew family Droseraceae. It is a temperate species with a circumboreal range, although it does occur as far south as Japan, southern Europe, and the island of Kauai in Hawaii, where it grows as a tropical sundew. It is thought to originate from an amphidiploid hybrid of D. rotundifolia and D. linearis, meaning that a sterile hybrid between these two species doubled its chromosomes to produce fertile progeny which stabilized into the current D. anglica.

<i>Pinguicula alpina</i> Species of plant

Pinguicula alpina, also known as the alpine butterwort, is a species of carnivorous plant native to high latitudes and altitudes throughout Eurasia. It is one of the most widespread Pinguicula species, being found in mountainous regions from Iceland to the Himalayas. Native to cold climates, it is a temperate species, forming prostrate rosettes of green to red leaves and white flowers in the summer and a tight hibernaculum during a period of winter dormancy in the winter. Like all members of the genus, P. alpina uses mucilaginous glands covering the surface of its summer leaves to attract, trap, and digest arthropod prey.

<i>Pinguicula longifolia</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula longifolia, commonly known as the long-leaved butterwort, is a perennial carnivorous subalpine plant of the Central Pyrenees, found on both sides of the border. It catches its prey by using its modified leaves that lie on the ground and have “densely covered stalked glands that bear a droplet of sticky mucilage on its top.” The need to capture arthropods is driven by the lack of nutrients present in the soil. P. l. subsp. longifolia obtain their nutrition primarily from flying insects, mainly diptera, which replenished the carnivorous plant with nitrogen. P. l. subsp. longifolia grows in wet shady areas and on vertical or overhanging limestone walls. It has been found at altitudes between 700 – 1900 meters. In the spring, the winter buds open and the first carnivorous leaves present themselves. These leaves are then followed by the flowers in early summer. Throughout summer the leaves can grow up to 14 cm in length and have glands present on both sides of the leaves, which is highly characteristic of P. l. subsp. longifolia. More carnivorous leaves arise throughout summer, and when the conditions become unfavourable, around autumn, a protective winter casing composed of scale like leaves is produced, in the centre of the rosette, called the hibernacula, also known as the plant bud. The leaves halt production and the old leaves wither and decay; P. l. subsp. longifolia is now ready for the winter dormancy. There must be optimal growth during the summer for P. l. subsp. longifolia, otherwise they produce weakened hibernacula which rot very easily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carnivorous plant</span> Plants that consume animals

Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They still generate all of their energy from photosynthesis. They have adapted to grow in waterlogged sunny places where the soil is thin or poor in nutrients, especially nitrogen, such as acidic bogs. They can be found on all continents except Antarctica, as well as many Pacific islands. In 1875, Charles Darwin published Insectivorous Plants, the first treatise to recognize the significance of carnivory in plants, describing years of painstaking research.

<i>Insectivorous Plants</i> Written by Charles Darwin(Book about insect eater plants)

Insectivorous Plants is a book by British naturalist and evolutionary theory pioneer Charles Darwin, first published on 2 July 1875 in London.

<i>Drosera glanduligera</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Drosera glanduligera, commonly known as the pimpernel sundew or scarlet sundew, is a species of carnivorous plant endemic to southern Australia. It is an ephemeral annual plant that grows in the winter and flowers from August to November.

<i>Drosera uniflora</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Drosera uniflora is a species in the carnivorous plant genus Drosera that is native to southern Chile, Argentina, and the Falkland Islands. It is a tiny sundew with a solitary white flower as its name would suggest. Stalked glands on its leaves, which secrete sticky mucilage at the tips, are used to capture and hold insect prey, from which the plant derives the nutrients it cannot obtain in sufficient quantity from the soil. It was formally described in 1809 by botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow.

<i>Pinguicula</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae

Pinguicula, commonly known as butterworts, is a genus of carnivorous flowering plants in the family Lentibulariaceae. They use sticky, glandular leaves to lure, trap, and digest insects in order to supplement the poor mineral nutrition they obtain from the environment. Of the roughly 80 currently known species, 13 are native to Europe, 9 to North America, and some to northern Asia. The largest number of species is in South and Central America.

<i>Pinguicula lutea</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Pinguicula lutea, commonly known as the yellow butterwort, is a species of warm-temperate carnivorous plant in the family Lentibulariaceae. It grows in savannas and sandy bog areas of the Southeastern United States.

<i>Drosera kaieteurensis</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Drosera kaieteurensis is a plant from the sundew family (Droseraceae).

<i>Pinguicula pumila</i> Species of plant

Pinguicula pumila, commonly known as the small butterwort or dwarf butterwort is a small species of carnivorous plant in the genus Pinguicula. It is native to the southeastern United States, where it grows in habitats where soil is poor in nutrition.

References

  1. ↑ "Modes of Locomotion in Protists: 5 Modes". Biology Discussion. 6 September 2016. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "Mucilage cell, cactus". www.sbs.utexas.edu. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  3. ↑ Paul, Eldon A., ed. (2006). Soil Microbiology, Ecology and Biochemistry (3rd ed.). Academic Press. p. 33. ISBN   9780080475141. Archived from the original on 24 December 2017.
  4. ↑ "Carnivorous Plant Trapping Mechanisms". International Carnivorous Plant Society. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Institute of Medicine (2001). Dietary Reference Intakes: Proposed Definition of Dietary Fiber. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. p. 19. ISBN   978-0-309-07564-0.
  6. ↑ "Slippery Elm". University of Maryland Medical Center. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Spitzenberger, Ray (23 August 2007). "Glue, Paste or Mucilage: Know the Difference?". East Bernard Express. East Bernard, TX. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  8. ↑ Dawidowsky, Ferdinand (1905). Glue, Gelatine, Animal Charcoal, Phosphorus, Cements, Pastes, and Mucilage. Henry Carey Baird & Co. p. 1. ISBN   978-1-113-00611-0.
  9. ↑ "Drosera L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  10. ↑ "Filmjölk från Linnés tid" (PDF). Verumjournalen (in Swedish). 2002: 10. 2002. Retrieved 18 July 2007.[ permanent dead link ]
  11. ↑ Östman, Elisabeth (1911). "Recept på filmjölk, filbunke och långmjölk". Iduns kokbok (in Swedish). Stockholm: Aktiebolaget Ljus, Isaac Marcus' Boktryckeriaktiebolag. p. 161. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008. Retrieved 18 July 2007.
  12. ↑ "Vad gjorde man med mjölken?" (in Swedish). Järnriket Gästrikland, Länsmuseet Gävleborg. Archived from the original on 22 March 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
  13. ↑ Harper, J. L.; Benton, R. A. (1 January 1966). "The Behaviour of Seeds in Soil: II. The Germination of Seeds on the Surface of a Water Supplying Substrate". Journal of Ecology. 54 (1): 151–166. Bibcode:1966JEcol..54..151H. doi:10.2307/2257664. JSTOR   2257664.
  14. ↑ Hasegawa, K.; Mizutani, J.; Kosemura, S.; Yamamura, S. (1 October 1992). "Isolation and identification of lepidimoide, a new allelopathic substance from mucilage of germinated cress seeds". Plant Physiology. 100 (2): 1059–1061. doi:10.1104/pp.100.2.1059. ISSN   0032-0889. PMC   1075667 . PMID   16653018.
  15. ↑ Lu, Juanjuan; Tan, Dunyan; Baskin, Jerry M.; Baskin, Carol C. (1 June 2010). "Fruit and seed heteromorphism in the cold desert annual ephemeral Diptychocarpus strictus (Brassicaceae) and possible adaptive significance". Annals of Botany. 105 (6): 999–1014. doi:10.1093/aob/mcq041. ISSN   0305-7364. PMC   2876001 . PMID   20348559.
  16. ↑ Yang, Xuejun; Zhang, Wenhao; Dong, Ming; Boubriak, Ivan; Huang, Zhenying (2 September 2011). "The Achene Mucilage Hydrated in Desert Dew Assists Seed Cells in Maintaining DNA Integrity: Adaptive Strategy of Desert Plant Artemisia sphaerocephala". PLOS ONE. 6 (9): e24346. Bibcode:2011PLoSO...624346Y. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0024346 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   3166310 . PMID   21912689.
  17. ↑ Villellas, J.; García, M. B. (1 September 2013). "The role of the tolerance–fecundity trade-off in maintaining intraspecific seed trait variation in a widespread dimorphic herb" (PDF). Plant Biology. 15 (5): 899–909. Bibcode:2013PlBio..15..899V. doi:10.1111/j.1438-8677.2012.00684.x. hdl: 10261/87756 . ISSN   1438-8677. PMID   23126286.
  18. ↑ Daley, Jason (10 August 2018). "The Corn of the Future Is Hundreds of Years Old and Makes Its Own Mucus". Smithsonian Magazine . ISSN   0037-7333.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.