Interspecies hormonal control of host root morphology by parasitic plants

Significance Parasitic plants are pests of many plants, including major crop species. An important step toward creating resistance to parasitic plants is gaining a better understanding of how these pathogens control the physiology and development of their hosts. We combined genetic, cell-biological, and biochemical methods to identify the plant hormone cytokinin as a mobile signal between the hemiparasitic plant Phtheirospermum japonicum and the...