A long-distance inhibitory system regulates haustoria numbers in parasitic plants.

ABSTRACT: The ability of parasitic plants to withdraw nutrients from their hosts depends on the formation of an infective structure known as the haustorium. How parasites regulate their haustoria numbers is poorly understood, and here, we uncovered that existing haustoria in the facultative parasitic plants Phtheirospermum japonicum and Parentucellia viscosa suppressed the formation of new haustoria located on distant roots. Using Phtheirospermum, we found that this effect depended on the formation of mature haustoria and could be induced through the application of external nutrients. To understand the molecular basis of this root plasticity, we analyzed hormone response and found that existing infections upregulated cytokinin-responsive genes first at the haustoria and then mor

SUBMITTER: Kokla A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11874510 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature