title: The Haustorium, a Specialized Invasive Organ in Parasitic Plants.
abstract: Parasitic plants thrive by infecting other plants. Flowering plants evolved parasitism independently at least 12 times, in all cases developing a unique multicellular organ called the haustorium that forms upon detection of haustorium-inducing factors derived from the host plant. This organ penetrates into the host stem or root and connects to its vasculature, allowing exchange of materials such as water, nutrients, proteins, nucleotides, pathogens, and retrotransposons between the host and the parasite. In this review, we focus on the formation and function of the haustorium in parasitic plants, with a specific emphasis on recent advances in molecular studies of root parasites in the Orobanchaceae and stem parasites in the Convolvulaceae.
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan; email: satoko.yoshida@riken.jp , songkui.cui@riken.jp , yasunori.ichihashi@riken.jp , ken.shriasu@riken.jp.
authors.forename: Satoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan; email: satoko.yoshida@riken.jp , songkui.cui@riken.jp , yasunori.ichihashi@riken.jp , ken.shriasu@riken.jp.
authors.forename: Songkui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan; email: satoko.yoshida@riken.jp , songkui.cui@riken.jp , yasunori.ichihashi@riken.jp , ken.shriasu@riken.jp.
authors.forename: Yasunori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ichihashi
authors.affiliation: RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan; email: satoko.yoshida@riken.jp , songkui.cui@riken.jp , yasunori.ichihashi@riken.jp , ken.shriasu@riken.jp.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shirasu
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D027722:Convolvulaceae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D031670:Orobanchaceae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D018517:Plant Roots; D018547:Plant Stems; D057685:Plant Weeds / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Cuscuta; Orobanchaceae; Striga; disease resistance; horizontal gene transfer; lateral root development