HAUSTORIUM 58 1 HAUSTORIUM Parasitic Plants Newsletter ISSN 1944-6969 Official Organ of the International Parasitic Plant Society (http://www.parasiticplants.org/ ) December 2010 Number 58 CONTENTS Page Message from the IPPS President (Jim Westwood)……………………………………………......… 1 Recent advances in the biology of Hydnora (Hydnoraceae) (Jay Bolin et al. )……………………….. 2 Perspectives on the sandalwood order (Dan Nickrent)……………………………………………….. 4 Reuven Jacobsohn…………………………………………………………………………………….. 6 Press releases Discovery offers hope of saving sub-Saharan crops from devastating parasities……………… 6 Witchweed: 50-year war may be nearing its final skirmish……………………………………. 6 World food rpize laureate Dr Gebisa named science envoy…………………………………… 7 Japanese dodder found in Clarksburg area (California)………………………………………… 8 New mistletoe species discovered (Mozambique)……………………………….……………... 8 Could mistletioes help to halt skin cancer……………………………………………………... 8 From Google Alerts – Striga – new species? ....................................................................................... 8 A searchable composite file of all Haustorium issues (Chris Parker)………………………………… 9 References from Haustorium in EndNote format (Dan Nickrent)……………………………………. 9 PhD opportunity………………………………………………………………………………………. 9 Thesis - Foraging and host use of the parasitic plant Cuscuta indecora…………………………………. 9 Forthcoming meetings 11th World Congress on Parasitic Plants 7 - 12 June 2011, Martina Franca, Italy……………. 10 Second Conference of the Near East Weed Science Society 16-19 November 2011, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan………………………………………………………………... 11 General websites……………………………………………………………………………………… 11 Literature……………………………………………………………………………………………… 11 Endnote………………………………………………………………………………………………... 27 MESSAGE FROM THE IPPS PRESIDENT Although we have not even held the 11 th Congress yet, Dear IPPS Members, now is the time to think about where to meet for the 12 th Congress in 2013. We are entertaining all options, so Best wishes for 2011 to all of you! This will be another please send me your ideas for (and better still, your big year for IPPS as this summer we will again gather willingness to help host!) the next congress. We aim to together to share science and meet friends old and new. announce the 2013 venue at the end of the congress in The 11 th World Congress on Parasitic Plants will take Italy. place on June 7-12, 2011 in Martina-Franca, Italy. See the Meetings section of this issue to find important IPPS is approaching an anniversary. When we meet in information on the Congress such as registration and Italy it will be ten years since the formal inception of abstract submission dates. Information is also available the society, which occurred at the 7 th International at the congress website ( http://ipps2011.ba.cnr.it/ ). I Parasitic Weed Symposium in Nantes, France. On one encourage all of you to attend. The congress venue and hand, ten years seems like a long time ago and it feels program will be outstanding. like much has changed in science and our understanding of parasite biology since the turn of the century (Sounds HAUSTORIUM 58 2 even longer ago when put that way!). On the other explosion in taxonomic interest as noted for Rafflesia hand, less has changed when considering that parasitic (Nickrent 2010) , however s significant recent progress weeds continue to spread and devastate crops and has been made. Our aim here is to briefly summarize effective control measures continue to elude us. our recent research on the genus Hydnora in southern Likewise with our society, we have had ten years of Africa. IPPS and the society has definitely matured over that time. We have established a comfortable rhythm of The strange Hydnora africana chamber flower, emitting meeting schedules and an unprecedented level of putrid odors of rotting meat have piqued the interest of organizational and financial stability. Yet as a society botanists and scavenging jackals for many years. Our whose members are scattered around the globe and only field studies have summarized the complex pollination meet every two years, we are young and still finding the biology of Hydnora . Year round, H. africana remains best ways to operate. Although we are well beyond underground except when in flower. Large fleshy infancy, we still have some growing to do. flower buds of Hydnora africana emerge from the soil and after opening, immediately emit fetid odors from On that note I want to announce that it is time to elect recessed osmophores located in each tepal. Despite their new IPPS officers. You may recall that we created a awful odor, South African botanist Robert Marloth staggered election cycle to avoid complete turnover of (1907) remarked that Hydnora osmophores were ‘like a the Executive Committee at one time, and two years ago spongy pudding, not only in appearance but also in we elected vice president, secretary, and member at taste’. Although overall thermogenesis is low in large. We now need to elect an editor and treasurer, Hydnora relative to other thermogenic plants, the with Diego Rubiales and Philippe Delavault having osmophores have the highest mass-specific respiration filled these positions, respectively, for four years. One rate of any Hydnora floral part, thus thermogenesis in wrinkle in this plan is that for much of his time as Hydnora is assumed to be associated with scent Treasurer, Philippe had no access to the IPPS bank production (Seymour et al. 2010). The fetid odors account, which had been established in The produced by the thermogenic osmophores predictably Netherlands. Having gone to much work to transfer the attract carrion feeders and ovipositors, mainly hide bank account and reregister IPPS in France, my fellow beetles ( Dermestes maculatus ), which soon after IPPS officers and I think it is sensible to keep it in alighting on the flower inevitably tumble into the France for a while. Philippe has agreed to serve a chamber and are trapped by the smooth chamber walls. second term as Treasurer and I hope all will agree with A marked beetle addition experiment demonstrated that us that it is prudent to keep him in that position. Thus, hide beetles are trapped for several days until pollen is we will be electing just the Editor position this time. shed, after which structural changes to the chamber wall We will solicit nominations and hold the election within allow beetles, heavy with pollen, to escape (Bolin et al. the next few months. 2009a). A University of Namibia undergraduate capstone thesis project conducted by Victor Libuku See you in Italy! using pollinator exclosures has shown convincingly that Hydnora is an obligate outcrosser in a severely Jim Westwood, IPPS President [email protected] pollinator limited environment (Maass, Libuku, and Bolin; unpublished data). Thus the specialized pollination ecology of Hydnora flowers: brood site RECENT ADVANCES IN THE BIOLOGY OF mimicry with insect imprisonment and thermogenesis HYDNORA (HYDNORACEAE): appears to have evolved in the context of its breeding system and pressure from pollinator limitation. The holoparasitic Hydnoraceae have long been considered botanical oddities even in the bizarre world In regard to the germination ecology of Hydnora, Job of parasitic plants. Despite often being discussed in Kuijt predicted, ‘a fascinating story awaits the botanist relation to the Rafflesiaceae due to gross similarities who is fortunate to have access to viable seeds’ (Kuijt including habit and mode of nutrition, DNA sequence 1969). We found Job Kuijt’s assertion warranted in a data have confirmed the prescient taxonomic judgment germination study of Hydnora triceps. This plant is of Solms-Laubach and Baillon and placed the unusual in several ways; it flowers completely Hydnoraceae among the Piperales (Nickrent et al. 2002; underground, is an obligate parasite of Euphorbia Barkman et al. 2007). Often compared to their quite dregeana , and is restricted to a small area of Namibia unrelated and rightfully admired brethren Rafflesia and South Africa near the mouth of the Orange River. ‘queen of parasites’, Hydnora and Prosopanche, the two The study applied whole root extracts of host and non- small genera of Hydnoraceae are somewhat more host Euphorbia spp. to seeds of H. triceps (Bolin et al. enigmatic and are not experiencing a contemporary 2009b). We found that germination of H. triceps only HAUSTORIUM 58 3 occurs when whole root extracts of its obligate host E. critical for our ongoing studies of host-parasite co- dregeana were applied to seeds and not when extracts speciation using molecular markers because host of other co-occurring Euphorbia spp. were applied, information reported from herbarium sheets is even those that are parasitized by H. africana and occur notoriously unreliable. We are currently preparing a sympatrically. Importantly these results suggest that multi-locus phylogeny of the Hydnoraceae for partitioning of the host resource ( Euphorbia spp.) publication, which we hope will inform future between Hydnora spp. occurs at the host recognition taxonomic work and highlight areas of incongruity in stage of seed germination. The germination strategies of the family. Our studies of the Hydnoraceae have other Hydnora spp. are unknown. revealed much, however surely much is left to be written and discovered about these, strangest of parasites, if one doesn’t mind digging. Barkman, T., McNeal, J., Lim S.H., Coat, G., Croom, H., Young, N. and dePamphilis, C. 2007. Mitochondrial DNA suggests at least 11 origins