Diverse Host Spectrum and the Parasitic Process in the Pantropical Hemiparasite <i>Cassytha filiformis</i> L. (Lauraceae) in China
Zhi-Fang Liu,
Xiu-Qin Ci,
Shi-Fang Zhang,
Xiao-Yan Zhang,
Xue Zhang,
Li-Na Dong,
John G. Conran,
Jie Li
Affiliations
Zhi-Fang Liu
Institute of Leisure Agriculture, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250131, China
Xiu-Qin Ci
Plant Phylogenetics and Conservation Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China
Shi-Fang Zhang
Plant Phylogenetics and Conservation Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China
Xiao-Yan Zhang
Plant Phylogenetics and Conservation Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China
Xue Zhang
Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China
Li-Na Dong
Guangxi Institute of Botany, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guilin 541006, China
John G. Conran
Australian Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Biodiversity & Sprigg Geobiology Centre, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Jie Li
Plant Phylogenetics and Conservation Group, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650201, China
Many hemiparasites attach to a range of different host species, resulting in complex parasite–host interactions. Comprehensive molecular phylogenies allow the investigation of evolutionary relationships between these host plants. We surveyed the hosts of the laurel dodder (Cassytha filiformis, Lauraceae) in China, representing 184 species from 146 genera, 67 families, and spanning flowering plants, conifers, and ferns, using host phylogenetic relationships to investigate the susceptibility to attack by this hemiparasitic plant among the vascular plants. The process of produced well-formed haustoria by C. filiformis was also observed in detail for six different hosts. Our results show that C. filiformis grows mainly on trees and shrubs from phylogenetically divergent members of the rosid and asterid eudicot clades, often attacking multiple adjacent hosts simultaneously, and forming extensive colonies. However, whether and to what extent transitions between C. filiformis and host plants occur remain unclear. Physiological evidence for the complex parasite–host species interactions need to be studied in the future.
