新奇事件簿 为什么捕蝇草食肉

New research sheds light on how carnivorous plants like the Venus fly trap developed a taste for meat.

新研究揭示了，像捕蝇草这样的肉食植物如何产生了食肉的嗜好。

A study from the University of Wurzburg in Germany suggests that subtle changes in the genetics of plants led to some becoming carnivorous.

德国维尔茨堡大学的一项研究表明植物基因上的细微变化导致一些植物变成了肉食性植物。

These changes led to the development of some of nature's most ingenious species.

这些变化导致了自然界一些最具独创性的物种的发展。

Carnivorous plants adapted novel and devious¹ ways to entice² and snare³ insects.

肉食植物采用了新颖且狡猾的方式诱捕昆虫。

The Venus fly trap uses clam-like leaves that snap shut when an insect crawls between them.

当昆虫爬到叶子之间时，捕蝇草像夹子一样的叶子就会迅速闭合。

The pitcher⁴ plant is shaped like a vase - insects go inside and then cannot crawl up the slippery insides.

猪笼草的形状像一个花瓶——昆虫进入到里边，在光滑瓶身内无法向上爬行。

The sundew plant has long sticky leaves, which roll up after insects get stuck on them.

茅膏菜的叶子又长又粘，昆虫被困在上边后，叶子就会卷起来。

Researchers in a variety of fields collaborated⁵ in the study.

不同领域的研究人员在这项研究中展开了合作。

They included computational evolutionary⁶ biologist Jorg Schultz and plant biologist Rainer Hedrich.

他们包括计算进化生物学家Jorg Schultz以及植物物学家Rainer Hedrich。

They sequenced and compared the genomes of carnivorous plants to non-carnivorous plants.

他们对食肉植物和非食肉植物的基因组进行了排序和比较。

They discovered that meat-eating plants developed from the same common ancestor about 60 million years ago.

他们发现，食肉植物大约在6000万年前由同一个共同祖先进化而来。

Dr Schultz said: "We were able to trace the origin of carnivorous genes⁷ back to a duplication event

Schultz博士说到：“我们能够追溯到食肉基因的起源，

that occurred many millions of years ago in the genome of the last common ancestor of the carnivorous species."

追溯到百万年前肉食性物种最后一个共同祖先基因组中的复制事件。”

Dr Rainer added: "The function of these genes is related to the ability to sense and digest animals and to utilise their nutrients⁸."

Rainer博士补充道：“这些基因的功能与感知并消化动物，利用它们营养素的能力有关。”

1 devious   

adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的

参考例句：

• Susan is a devious person and we can't depend on her.苏姗是个狡猾的人，我们不能依赖她。
• He is a man who achieves success by devious means.他这个人通过不正当手段获取成功。

2 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

3 snare   

n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑

参考例句：

• I used to snare small birds such as sparrows.我曾常用罗网捕捉麻雀等小鸟。
• Most of the people realized that their scheme was simply a snare and a delusion.大多数人都认识到他们的诡计不过是一个骗人的圈套。

4 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

5 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

6 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

7 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

8 nutrients   

n.（食品或化学品）营养物，营养品( nutrient的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
• Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》