Forest type shapes marsupial behavior and mistletoe genetics in Southern temperate rainforests

Francisco E. Fonturbel •
cover_image

A recent study by Gabriela S. Olivares et al., conducted in the southern South American temperate rainforests, revealed how habitat structure influences the behavior of the arboreal marsupial Dromiciops bozinovici and the genetic diversity of two mistletoe species (Tristerix corymbosus and Desmaria mutabilis). Using camera traps and DNA sequencing, we found that D. bozinovici visits T. corymbosus more frequently in evergreen forests and D. […]

Update of the IPPS history page

IPPS Admin •

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 […]

Three generations of IPPS presidents meet in Senegal for Promise II meeting

IPPS Admin •

Three generations of IPPS presidents, Julie Scholes, Harro Bouwmeester, and current president, Jonne Rodenburg, met recently in Senegal for the Promise II project meeting. Promise II, Promoting Root Microbes for Integrated Striga Eradication, is a Gates Foundation funded project aiming to engineer soil and plant microbiomes to enhance crop productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Specifically, to […]

Strigolactone transporter gene editing results in parasitic weed resistance in sorghum and tomato

IPPS Admin •

At about the same time two papers describe the use of gene editing of the strigolactone transporter to reduce strigolactone exudation and thereby introduce parasitic weed resistance in sorghum and tomato. These are: Jiayang Shi, Cuo Mei, Fengyong Ge, Qingliang Hu, Xinwei Ban, Ran Xia, Peiyong Xin, Shujing Cheng, Gaohua Zhang, Jiawei Nie, Shiqi Zhang, […]

Manipulation of a strigolactone transporter in tomato confers resistance to the parasitic weed broomrape

Harro Bouwmeester •
picture paper Xinwei Ban

Parasitic weeds of the Orobanchaceae family cause substantial economic losses and pose significant threats to global agriculture. However, management of these parasites is challenging, and very few resistance genes have been cloned and characterized in depth. Here, we performed a genome-wide association study using 152 tomato accessions and identified SlABCG45 as a key gene that […]

March IPPS Seminars by Begoña Pérez Vich and Amal Boukteb

IPPS Admin •

First talk: Dr. Begoña Pérez Vich from Spanish National Scientific Research Council will talk about “Genetics of the sunflower – Orobanche cumana parasitic interaction” Second talk: Amal Boukteb, PhD student, National Institute for Agricultural Research of Tunisia will talk about “Vicia faba–Orobanche foetida: Insights into Key Genetic Players” Date: Wednesday, March 5th at Time: 1 […]

Online survey on parasitic weeds in European agriculture

Jonne Rodenburg •
PWimageDistribution - Copy

*** Online survey on parasitic weeds in Europe ***  Please help us to reach out to farmers and extension/research professional working with farmers in Europe for this online survey on parasitic weeds! You can access the English. French or Dutch versions (IT/ES/PT/ DE versions follow soon) here: tinyurl.com/parasiticweeds   […]

February IPPS Seminars by Salma Shahid and Jiacheng Ji

IPPS Admin •

The second IPPS online meeting in 2025 featured two excellent presentations on two different parasitic plants. Salma Shahid talked about the fascinating interplay between miRNAs and DNA methylation in the context of Cuscuta and Arabidopsis interactions. Please visit her group webpage to find out more. In the second talk, Jiacheng Ji, a PhD student in […]

Cover page of the New Phytologist

Soyon Park •
Cover

The Cuscuta transformation paper is now available online in the New Phytologist journal.  It also became a cover page. Here is the link.  https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.20140?af=R#:~:text=Although%20Cuscuta%20species%20have%20been,produce%20flowers%20and%20viable%20seeds. […]

The IPPS is now on Bluesky!

IPPS Admin •

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! […]