A comparative study across the parasitic plants of Cuscuta subgenus Grammica (Convolvulaceae) reveals a possible loss of the plastid genome in its section Subulatae.

Most species in Cuscuta subgenus Grammica retain many photosynthesis-related plastid genes, generally under purifying selection. A group of holoparasitic species in section Subulatae may have lost their plastid genomes entirely. The c.

Mitochondrial phylogenomics of Cuscuta (Convolvulaceae) reveals a potentially functional horizontal gene transfer from the host.

Horizontal gene transfers (HGTs) from host or other organisms have been reported in mitochondrial genomes of parasitic plants. Genes transferred in this fashion have usually been found non-functional. Several examples of HGT from the mitochondrial genome of parasitic Cuscuta (Convolvulaceae) to its hosts have been reported, but not vice versa.

Correction to: Caught in action: fine-scale plastome evolution in the parasitic plants of Cuscuta section Ceratophorae (Convolvulaceae).

Regrettably, an in-text citation wasn't listed in the reference section of the above mentioned publication. The citation reads Schneider et al. (2018) and the correct reference is published here.

Caught in action: fine-scale plastome evolution in the parasitic plants of Cuscuta section Ceratophorae (Convolvulaceae).

An exhaustive analysis of a group of closely related parasitic plants shows a predominantly gradual reduction in plastid genome composition and provides the most reduced plastomes in the genus Cuscuta. Parasitic plants have a diminished to completely absent reliance on photosynthesis, and are characterized by sweeping morphological, physiological, and genomic changes. The plastid genome (plastome) is highly conserved in autotrophic plants but is often reduced in parasites, and provides a useful system for documenting the genomic effects of a loss of photosynthesis.

Convergent Plastome Evolution and Gene Loss in Holoparasitic Lennoaceae.

The Lennoaceae, a small monophyletic plant family of root parasites endemic to the Americas, are one of the last remaining independently evolved lineages of parasitic angiosperms lacking a published plastome. In this study, we present the assembled and annotated plastomes of two species spanning the crown node of Lennoaceae, Lennoa madreporoides and Pholisma arenarium, as well as their close autotrophic relative from the sister family Ehretiaceae, Tiquilia plicata. We find that the plastomes of L.