2017 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Carbon / nitrogen interactions between legumes and parasitic plants
| Project/Area Number |
26870087
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| Research Institution | University of Tsukuba |
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Principal Investigator |
Irving Louis 筑波大学, 生命環境系, 助教 (60597178)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
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| Keywords | parasite / legume / nitrogen |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Parasitic plants can be split into hemiparasites which steal primarily nutrients and water, and holoparasites which steal carbon. We aimed to look at the influence of these two types of parasites on a legume host. However, early results provided contradictory data preventing solid conclusions. In the last year, we have discovered that the hemiparasite Phtheirospermum japonicum can switch its parasitic ability on and off, contingent on the environmental conditions. Unlike all other hemiparasites so far studied, P. japonicum does not steal nutrients but seems to feed on host sugars. Parasite biomass is maximized where the parasite is supplied N, but the host is subject to restricted N. The parasite is unable to abstract N fixed by the host plant. Nutrient supply to the host prevents abstraction by the parasite. Parasite attachment suppresses the host's capacity to fix N. We are currently repeating these experiments, and plan to publish in the summer. These findings are highly novel, and this phenomenon has not been previously observed. For the holoparasite, Orobanche minor, we have discovered that parasite biomass is contingent on the amount of light available to the host plant, while the N status was not important.
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