Some plants violate the rules of plant life so much that they barely resemble plants at all. Balanophora – one of them is a parasite that lives underground, lacks chlorophyll and in some cases reproduces without sex, but still manages to produce flowers with some of the smallest seeds known in the plant kingdom.
Found in humid regions of Japan, Taiwan and Okinawa. Balanophora lives by parasitizing on the roots of specific host trees, completely relying on the energy of other plants. New genetic study published in New Phytologistshows how this lifestyle changed the plant at a cellular level, showing how a non-green and sometimes completely asexual plant can survive while defying expectations of what plants require to live.
Why Balanophora It was difficult to study
Balanophora don't waste your life reach for the sunshine like most plants. Instead, it remains mostly underground in shaded forest thickets, only emerging briefly above the soil to bloom. This hidden lifestyle has long intrigued botanists.
Its ecology also makes it difficult to study. The plant is rare, often found on steep slopes, and is closely associated with a small number of host tree species. As a result, earlier studies tended to focus on individual traits, such as genetics or reproduction, rather than examining how these traits evolved together.
In the new study, the researchers took a broader approach. By combining field research with genetic and evolutionary analyzes of several species, the team traced how Balanophora the parasitic lifestyle, cell biology, and reproductive strategies evolved together.
Retention of plastids after loss of photosynthesis
A particularly interesting discovery occurred inside plant cells. In most plants, plastids—organelles that contain chloroplasts—play a central role in photosynthesis. When plants stop photosynthesizing, these organelles typically lose genes and functionality.
IN BalanophoraThe plastid genome has shrunk to one of the smallest known in land plants—about 20 genes, compared with nearly 200 in photosynthetic species. However, the plastid itself did not disappear.
“It's interesting to see how much a plant can reduce its plastid genome, which at first glance looks like the plastid is on the verge of extinction. But when we look closer, we found that many proteins are still transported into the plastid, showing that although the plant has given up photosynthesis, the plastid is still a vital part of the plant's metabolism,” Dr. Kenji Suetsugu, a botanist at Kobe University and co-author of the study, said in the study. press release.
Genetic analysis shows that hundreds of proteins continue to enter the organelles, where they support important metabolic processes unrelated to sunlight capture. Instead of functioning as a photosynthetic engine, the plastid appears to have been stripped down and repurposed—retaining only the machinery needed to support life underground.
Balanophora Playback
The study also found differences in the plant's propagation methods. Some populations rely on sexual reproductionwhile others produce seeds without fertilization through a process known as apomixis, a strategy among flowering plants.
By reconstructing the plant's evolutionary history, the researchers found that completely asexual reproduction evolved several times, especially in island populations. In isolated environments, where partners or pollinators may be scarce, the ability to reproduce alone may provide a temporary advantage, allowing populations to persist despite their narrow ecological needs.
Place of results Balanophora among the oldest fully parasitic plant lineages and will show how it has survived despite the loss of traits once thought important.
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