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

The ability of plants to fulfill nutritional needs by parasitizing neighboring plants has originated several times in angiosperm evolution. Molecular tools are now being exploited to investigate the evolutionary origins of plant parasitism and to dissect the genetic mechanisms governing parasitic plant-host plant interactions. Investigating the nature of signal exchanges between parasitic plants and their hosts serves as a tractable system for understanding 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.