Category: Society News

Jiayang Shi et al., 2025. Resistance to Striga parasitism through reduction of strigolactone exudation. Cell, 2025, ISSN 0092-8674, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2025.01.022 Xinwei Ban et al., 2025. Manipulation of a strigolactone transporter in tomato confers resistance to the parasitic weed broomrape. The Innovation, 2025, 100815, ISSN 2666-6758, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2025.100815. At about the same time these two papers show once […]

Last recorded in 1938 near Rupa in the Aka Hills, Arunachal Pradesh, Sapria himalayana has remained one of the most elusive members of the Rafflesiaceae family. Sapria himalayana, the cousin of the world’s largest flower, Rafflesia, was first discovered in the Mishmi Hills of Arunachal Pradesh by British botanist William Griffith in 1836. Despite its […]

The IPPS June Seminar will feature two talks on Striga: Prof. Jessy Lasky from the Pennsylvania State University will talk about: “Genetics, physiology, and evolution of sorghum resistance and striga host adaptation” and Prof. Yu Feifei from the China Agricultural University will talk about: “Resistance to Striga parasitism through reduction of strigolactone exudation” Date: Wednesday, […]

Our IPPS May Seminar will feature two talks about the parasitic tree sandalwood. First talk: Prof. Junkun Lu from the Research Institute of Tropical Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry will talk about: “Synergistic parasitism of mixed rosewood-sandalwood plantation in China” Second talk: Prof. Xinhua Zhang, from the South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences […]

We are excited to share that the 18th World Congress on Parasitic Plants will be held at the Instituto Bahia dos Vermelhos in Ilhabela, Brazil, from June 14 to June 20, 2026. Join us for a week of presentations and networking as we explore advancements in parasitic plant research. Save the date, and stay tuned […]

Mistletoes: keystone species that shape ecosystems and excel at water transpiration and stomatal conductance! The April IPPS mistletoe seminar featured two insightful talks from Francisco Forturbel and Xian-Yan Huang, who kindly stepped in for Yun-Bing Zhang. Check out their recent papers to follow up on their talks: Olivares GS, et al. 2025. and Zhang YB […]

The IPPS is shifting its main social media presence to Bluesky and LinkedIn. Follow us there to stay updated on the latest parasitic plants and IPPS news.  See you on Bluesky and LinkedIn! […]

First talk: Dr. Francisco Fontúrbel from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso in Chile will talk about: “Mistletoe-driven facilitation at the limit of life in Patagonia” Second talk: Dr. Yun-Bing Zhang, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, will talk about “Survival secrets of mistletoes: high drought tolerance in aerial habitats” Date: Wednesday, April […]

For our IPPS March Online Seminar, we had again two wonderful talks and a strong turnout from our IPPS community. Dr. Begoña Pérez Vich presented her research on the sunflower-Orobanche cumana interaction. If you’re interested in the mapping of Avirulence genes, please check out her recent publication in BMC Plant Biology (Calderón-González Á et al., […]

Thanks to requests from our community after Jim Westwood’s IPPS in January, Jim generously offered to share his incredible collection of past WCPP conference posters, meeting photos, and some fascinating insights into the early days of the IPPS he presented in his seminar. You can now find these pictures in the updated society history section […]