Parasitic plant responses to host plant signals: a model for subterranean plant-plant interactions

The ability of plants to fulfill nutritional needs by parasitizing neighbor ing plants has originated several times in angiosperm evolution. Molecular tools are now being exploited to investigate the evolutionary origins of pl ant parasitism and to dissect the genetic mechanisms governing parasitic pl ant-host plant interactions. Investigating the nature of signal exchanges b etween parasitic plants and their hosts serves as a tractable system for un derstanding how plants in general communicate in the environment. This work should also lead to the development of novel strategies for minimizing the devastation caused by parasitic weeds in international agriculture.