Effect of species environment on host preference of Cuscuta campestris

Kornél Baráth

doi:10.1007/s11258-021-01158-w

Abstract

Cuscuta campestris is one of the most widespread and most harmful parasitic plants in the world. It regularly infests economically important crops substantially reducing their yield. Its host preference has been frequently investigated in natural habitats, but studies have usually been performed at only one site. In this study, I tested the hypothesis that host-preference studies performed at a single site provide information only about local individuals of the host species and not about the species of hosts in general. The preferential status of host species was investigated in different geographical regions, in different species environments. Altogether 1847 relationships between parasite and plant species were examined and categorized at 171 places in Hungary. The used method took into account the frequency and intensity of infestations on the hosts, the proportion of resource use and availability, the resource distribution as well as the defence mechanisms of the hosts. The frequency and intensity of infestations greatly varied amongst the 174 detected host species. The results confirmed that frequently parasitized hosts of C. campestris are not necessarily preferred. Most host species have infestations of varying intensity in different species environments. Poaceae species were found to differ from each other in the extent to which they support the parasite’s growth. The study revealed also that C. campestris does not always develop haustoria on individuals of those species, which are unable to contribute significantly to its growth.

Highlights

Keywords Cuscuta Á Field dodder Á Haustorium Á Parasitic plant Á Resistant species Á Resource use Approximately 4750 parasitic plant species are known in the world, which is more than 1% of the flowering plants (Nickrent 2020)
C. campestris is one of the most frequent parasitic plants in Hungary mostly occurring on the edge of roads and agricultural fields (Erd}os 1971; Csiky et al 2004)
Some floras and taxonomic treatments (e.g. Buia 1960; Feinbrun 1972; Kojic 1973; Chrtek and Bertova 1988; Barath and Csiky 2009) mention a number of species or genera as frequent hosts of this parasite. Based on these studies it can be said that field dodder infest several hundreds of species, and its host ranges are similar in adjacent regions but completely different if the regions are far from each other

Summary

Introduction

4750 parasitic plant species are known in the world, which is more than 1% of the flowering plants (Nickrent 2020). Buia 1960; Feinbrun 1972; Kojic 1973; Chrtek and Bertova 1988; Barath and Csiky 2009) mention a number of species or genera as frequent hosts of this parasite Based on these studies it can be said that field dodder infest several hundreds of species, and its host ranges are similar in adjacent regions but completely different if the regions are far from each other (e.g. temperate vs tropical regions). To gain a better understanding of the preference of a given parasite species to its host species, the studies need to be conducted in multiple locations, in a variety of species environments This requires an appropriate method that can reliably synthesize the data deriving from different sites

Materials and methods

Results

Number of infection

Discussion