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Dodder uses the flowering signal of its host plant to flower | |
admin | |
2020-09-01 | |
发布年 | 2020 |
语种 | 英语 |
国家 | 德国 |
领域 | 资源环境 |
正文(英文) | A team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena has investigated how the parasitic dodder Cuscuta australis controls flower formation. They showed that the rootless and leafless parasite eavesdrops on the flowering signals of its host plants in order to activate its own flowering machinery. By synchronizing flowering with the respective host plant, the parasite makes sure that it can grow on its host long enough to produce the optimal amount of seeds.
The plant genus Cuscuta consists of more than 200 species that can be found almost all over the world. The parasites, known as dodder, but also called wizard's net, devil's hair or strangleweed, feed on other plants by attaching themselves to their hosts via a special organ, the haustorium, and withdrawing nutrients from them. They have neither roots nor leaves. Without leaves, they are hardly able to photosynthesize. Without roots they cannot absorb nutrients and water from the soil. On the other hand, they are integrated into the internal communication network of their host plants and can even pass on warning signals from plant to plant (see our press release Dodder: a parasite involved in the plant alarm system, July 24, 2017). Flower promoting signal FT from the host also determines the flowering time of the parasite"The flowering time is controlled by leaves, as leaves can sense environmental cues and synthesize the flowering signal, a protein named FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT), which travels through the plant vascular system. We therefore wondered how a leafless parasite such as Cuscuta australis controls the timing of its flowering," says lead investigator Jianqiang Wu. In 2018, his team had sequenced the genome of C. australis and found that many genes important for regulation of flowering time were lost in the C. australis genome. Therefore, C. australis seems to be unable to activate its own flowering mechanism. Regressive Evolution: Gene loss as an advantageIn the course of evolution, plant parasites have lost certain traits and "outsourced" physiological processes. As a result, various genes in their genomes may be lost. “This work establishes that for a plant parasite, losing control over flowering processes can be advantageous, as it allows the parasite to hijack its host’s mobile flowering signals for its own use. It can thereby readily synchronize its physiology with that of its host”, says co-author Ian Baldwin, director of the Department Molecular Ecology at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology. Because of the gene loss, dodder may be able to better adapt to the parasitic lifestyle and ultimately increase its fitness. |
URL | 查看原文 |
来源平台 | Max Planck Society |
文献类型 | 新闻 |
条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/292430 |
专题 | 资源环境科学 |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | admin. Dodder uses the flowering signal of its host plant to flower. 2020. |
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