Balanophora shed one third of its genes as it evolved into a streamlined parasitic plant -- an extreme degree of genome shrinkage even among parasites. Along the way this subtropical plant developed ...

Parasitic plants are notorious agricultural pests that drain nutrients from crops and cause economic losses of more than USD 1 billion due to yield losses every year. Yet these plants almost never ...

Two parasitic plants in a new study are losing genes related to photosynthesis and other plant functions as they continue their food-sucking habits. By Laura Baisas Published Sep 21, 2023 11:00 AM EDT ...

This article was originally published by Knowable Magazine. Mistletoe is more than just a Yuletide kissing attraction; it plays a hugely important role in ecosystems. It is a parasitic plant—it takes ...

Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) are significant pests that threaten the production of economically important crops, thereby ...

Strigolactones are a class of carotenoid‐derived phytohormones that play a pivotal role in regulating plant architecture and mediating interactions with both symbiotic organisms and parasitic plants.

At the base of mossy trees, deep in the mountains of Taiwan and mainland Japan or nestled in the subtropical forests of Okinawa, grows what most might mistake for a mushroom—but it is actually a very ...

The study reveals how Balanophora plants function despite abandoning photosynthesis and, in some species, sexual reproduction. Their plastid genomes shrank dramatically in a shared ancestor, yet the ...

If you happen to come across plants of the Balanophoraceae family in a corner of a forest, you might easily mistake them for fungi growing around tree roots. Their mushroom-like structures are ...

Researchers from Japan uncovered how glucosylation of lignin-derived signals enables parasitic plants to avoid attacking themselves and related plants Ikoma, Japan—Parasitic plants are notorious ...