Lukas VFN 🇪🇺#Parasitic plant convinces hosts to grow into its own flesh—it's also an extreme example of genome shrinkage https://phys.org/news/2023-09-parasitic-convinces-hosts-fleshit-extreme.html
#Balanophora #genomes display massively #ConvergentEvolution with other extreme #holoparasites and provide novel insights into parasite–host interactions https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-023-01517-7
"unlike some other #ParasiticPlants, Balanophora induces the vascular system of their host plant to grow into a tuber, forming a unique underground organ with mixed host-parasite tissue."
Parasitic plant convinces hosts to grow into its own flesh—it's also an extreme example of genome shrinkage
If you happen to come across plants of the Balanophoraceae family in a corner of a forest, you might easily mistake them for fungi growing around tree roots. Their mushroom-like structures are actually inflorescences, composed of minute flowers.