Our recently published paper: ‘Imazapic Herbigation for Egyptian Broomrape (Phelipanche aegyptiaca) Control in Processing Tomatoes—Laboratory and Greenhouse Studies’, is a summary of preliminary studies in the lab and greenhouse investigating the science and practicality of utilizing the imidazolinone ALS-inhibiting herbicide Imazapic for selective Phelipanche aegyptiaca control in processing tomato. These studies led to field trials […]

Dr Steven Runo in a crop field with parasitic weed Striga. Image credits: Joel Masanga […]

Parasitic plants use haustorium to absorb parts or all of nutrient resources required for their growth from host plants. As a multicellular organ, the haustorium consists of different cell types, yet the knowledge on their spatial arrangement is largely limited and far lagging from that of other organs such as root and shoot. This paper […]

In a new paper, published in Journal of Plant Physiology (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2021.153438) we show that leaf photosynthesis and a range of associated parameters is heavily impacted in rice plants when they are infected by the facultative parasitic weed Rhamphicarpa fistulosa. Previously we found that this parasite starts benefiting from its host at around 6 weeks after […]

Dear Colleagues at the IPPS, To date few journals accept video articles for submission/publication in our field, despite this type of articles being very engaging and useful to share new techniques and approaches. For this reason, under an invitation of the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), I decided to serve as guest editor for a […]

Recently, Jianqiang Wu Group at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Kunming, China revealed that the parasitic plant dodder can bridge nutrient systemic signals inter-hosts. Nitrogen (N) deficiency is a common challenge to plants worldwide. In the dodder bridged cluster, whether dodder can also mediate nutrient systemic signals still unknown. In […]

Recently, the Jianqiang Wu Group at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Kunming, China uncovered how a dodder plant controls its flowering time. Using different host species and genetically modified plants, this team found that the dodder Cuscuta australis synchronizes its flowering time with those of the hosts, and the expression […]