Field observations showed that in its native Texas grasslands, dodder (Cuscuta attenuata) grows more vigorously in patches of mixed host species than in monospecific host patches. Field experiments with naturally occurring host individuals demonstrated that the parasite achieved greater volume when simultaneously infesting two hosts of differing species rather than two hosts of the same species...

Changes in cell walls have been previously observed in the mature infection organ, or haustorium, of the parasitic angiosperm Cuscuta, but are not equally well charted in young haustoria. In this study, we focused on the molecular processes in the early stages of developing haustoria; that is, before the parasite engages in a physiological contact with its host. We describe first the identifica...

By washing out (14)C-solutes or (3)H-solutes in 0.5 mm CaSO(4) during a period of 5 to 6 hours, the release of amino acids by excised stem segments of broad bean (Vicia faba L. cv Witkiem) was studied. Three hours after pulse labeling with l-valine, l-asparagine, or alpha-aminoisobutyric acid (AIB), hollow stem segments were excised from the plant and incubated in a washout solution.In experime...

In the present study, xanthophyll composition of eight parasitic Cuscuta species under different light conditions was investigated. Neoxanthin was not detected in four of the eight species examined, while in others it occurred at the level of several percent of total xanthophylls. In C. gronovii and C. lupuliformis it was additionally found that the neoxanthin content was considerably stimulate...

The importance of plant volatiles in mediating interactions between plant species is much debated. Here, we demonstrate that the parasitic plant Cuscuta pentagona (dodder) uses volatile cues for host location. Cuscuta pentagona seedlings exhibit directed growth toward nearby tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) and toward extracted tomato-plant volatiles presented in the absence of other cue...

We investigate braneworlds modeled by topological solutions that arise from the so-called Cuscuta-Galileon model. develop a first order framework and illustrate our procedure with scalar field having well-known hyperbolic tangent profile. find conditions must be imposed to parameters of model in have connecting minima potential, brane constrained interpolate Minkowski anti de Sitter geometries....

During the development of the haustorium, searching hyphae of the parasite and the host parenchyma cells are connected by plasmodesmata. Using transgenic tobacco plants expressing a GFP-labelled movement protein of the tobacco mosaic virus, it was demonstrated that the interspecific plasmodesmata are open. The transfer of substances in the phloem from host to the parasite is not selective. Afte...

Cuscuta, commonly known as dodder, is a genus of family convolvolaceace. Approximately 170 species of Cuscuta are extensively distributed in temperate and subtropical areas of the world. Species of this genus are widely used as essential constituents in functional foods and traditional medicinal systems. Various parts of many members of Cuscuta have been found efficacious against a variety of d...