Parasitic plants remodel stolen genes to gain new biological functions

Researchers have discovered that parasitic plants, specifically the dodder (Cuscuta spp.), do not merely steal nutrients from host plants but also acquire and remodel genetic material through horizontal gene transfer (HGT).

A study led by Professor Koh Aoki of Osaka Metropolitan University, in collaboration with the National Institute for Basic Biology and Suntory Global Innovation Center Ltd., traced the evolutionary history of the CYP81Q gene. The team found that this gene originally belonged to a different flowering plant order, Lamiales, before being transferred to the dodder lineage.

The acquired gene allows the dodder to produce sesamin, an antioxidant lignan compound. Over millions of years, the dodder genome remodeled the foreign gene using transposable elements, or ‘jumping DNA,’ which created new introns. Despite these structural changes, the gene remained functional, continuing to produce the enzyme necessary for sesamin synthesis.