Sneaky parasitic weeds may be able to steal genes from the plants they are attacking and then use those genes against the host plant, according to a team of scientists.
…researchers detected 52 incidences of the nonsexual transfer of DNA — known as horizontal gene transfer, or HGT — from a host plant to members of a parasitic plant family known as the broomrapes, said Claude dePamphilis, professor of biology, Penn State.
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While horizontal gene transfers in less complex species, such as bacteria, are common, most evolution in more complex organisms is driven by the sexual exchange of DNA…[but] the researchers suggest that the close feeding connections of parasitic plants with their hosts may increase the chances of intact genes traveling from the host to the parasite’s genome…
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Farmers throughout the world struggle with these types of parasitic plants, which are so numerous in some areas of the world they become a major source of crop loss.
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Future research may investigate the mechanism of horizontal gene transfer to help engineer improved plant defenses against parasitic attacks, dePamphilis said.
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