ArticleAnnals of botany2026
Photosynthetic activity in the heterotrophic plant genus Cuscuta (Convolvulaceae) is modulated by phylogeny and ontogeny.
Article in Annals of botany, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Vestigial Plastids in Parasitic Plants: Evolutionary Remnants or Adaptive Innovations?Plant, cell & environment · 2026Review
- Progress and prospects of parasitic plant biodiversity genomics.Plant & cell physiology · 2026Review
- Phytochrome-mediated light perception in dodders drives haustorium development through epigenetic mechanisms.Plant & cell physiology · 2026Article
- Projecting 2D top-view of PSII efficiency onto 3D plant models to quantify PSII efficiency across canopy layers.Plant methods · 2026Article
- Chromosome level assembly and annotation of Cuscuta campestris Yunck. ("field dodder"), a model parasitic plant.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsPhotosynthesis is central to plant function, yet it has been repeatedly lost or diminished in parasitic angiosperm lineages. This variation raises questions about how photosynthetic function is retained, modified or repurposed in the evolutionary context of parasitism. Cuscuta species, as a model system for studying parasitism, exhibit varying degrees of plastid functionality and photosynthetic ability, based on genomic and ultrastructure studies. However, few direct physiological studies exist, and none that span multiple developmental stages of autotrophic, mixotrophic and non-photosynthetic species in a phylogenetic framework.
methodsTo address this gap, we paired photosynthetic activity measurements from fluorometry with quantitative analysis of chlorophylls and carotenoids from multiple developmental stages in 14 Cuscuta species, representing the phylogenetic breadth of the genus, and a closely related autotrophic species. Multivariate data were analysed using non-parametric hypothesis tests, and comparative phylogenetic patterns were explored through Bayesian model testing. KEY
resultsPhotosynthetic activity and chlorophyll and carotenoid content were highest in meristematic regions (e.g. shoot tips and developing seeds) and lowest in older stems or haustoria. Neoxanthin, a carotenoid typically highly conserved in plants, appears to have been lost once in Cuscuta and subsequently re-gained in certain lineages. Complex relationships between photosynthetic activity and lutein epoxide concentration suggest differing roles in developmental stages with high and low energetic needs.
conclusionsThese findings provide substantial evidence that photosynthesis in Cuscuta is not vestigial but rather modulated based on developmental stage and across phylogenetic history, revealing a dynamic interplay between parasitism and photosynthetic function.
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