...and @bota-jb.bsky.social took care that everything worked smoothly, and did amazing drone images of our experiments! Thank you all, you are the best! 🥰

Danke für diesen treffenden Blogpost und das Teilen deiner Erfahrungen, @amreibahr.bsky.social.

Despite these limitations, our study supports the idea that microbes support prey-break down in Nepenthes like in other pitcher plant genera, e. g. Cephalotus or Sarracenia and we hope to provide a starting point for investigating this further. 7/7

⚠ Limitations of our study include:
- no information on direct effects of the UV treatment on the microbial community
- short experimental period insufficient to detect potential effects on plant-growth
- No assessment of macro-inquiline influence on nutrient dynamics. 6/7

❕Our key finding: plants with non-sterilised fluids showed a quicker and improved photosynthetic response to prey capture than those with sterilised fluids. This suggests that microbes contribute to the breakdown of prey which could be crucial under high competition for nutrients with inquilines 5/7

To investigate the role of the microbes in the plant’s prey digestion, we excluded macro-inquilines, provided prey to the pitchers, and sterilised the digestive fluid daily using UV light over a two-month period. We then compared the physiological responses of plants with and without microbes. 4/7

Despite the fluid’s acidity and enzymatic activity, a range of organisms – including arthropods, rotifers, and microbes – live inside the pitchers. These so-called inquilines may compete with the plant, aid digestion, N-enrich the fluid, or have no effect at all. 3/7

Nepenthes hemsleyana grows in nutrient-poor soils and acquires nutrients by capturing arthropods and collecting faeces from bats that roost inside its pitchers. It then secretes digestive enzymes into the fluid to break down prey and access nutrients. 2/7

No one should have to work under such conditions and go through these traumatising experiences. The consequences are in many cases very severe on a personal level but also deprive academia of brilliant and talented minds. This must stop now and a change of work culture is overdue. #IchBinHanna 3/3

I know of cases of abuse of power, bullying and even sexual harassment that led to friends giving up their PhD or having to restart at another institution. Although they were reported, none of these cases led to consequences for the perpetrators (even though they were not the first complaints). 2/3