| Title: | Botanical parasitism of an insect by a parasitic plant |
| Author(s): | Egan SP; Zhang L; Comerford M; Hood GR; |
| Address: | "Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA. Electronic address: scott.p.egan@rice.edu. Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA" |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.024 |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-0445 (Electronic) 0960-9822 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "We report evidence of a new trophic interaction in nature whereby a parasitic plant attacks multiple species of insects that manipulate plant tissue when the two co-occur on a shared primary host plant. Most plant species are attacked by a great diversity of external and internal herbivores [1]. One common herbivore guild, gall-forming insects, induce tumor-like structures of nutrient-rich plant tissue within which immature insects feed and develop [2,3]. While the gall is made of plant tissue, its growth and development are controlled by the insect and it therefore represents an extended phenotype of the gall former [4]. Typically, parasitic plants attack other plants to gain nutritional requirements by connecting directly to the vascular system of their hosts using modified root structures called haustoria[5]. Here, we document the first observation of a parasitic plant attacking the insect-induced galls of multiple gall-forming species and provide evidence that this interaction negatively affects gall former fitness" |
| Keywords: | Animals Herbivory Insecta *Parasites Plant Tumors Plants; |
| Notes: | "MedlineEgan, Scott P Zhang, Linyi Comerford, Mattheau Hood, Glen R eng Letter England 2018/08/22 Curr Biol. 2018 Aug 20; 28(16):R863-R864. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.06.024" |
