Phylogeny Of Tropical Orobanchaceae Using Matk ( Maturase...

Phylogeny of Tropical Orobanchaceae Using matK (maturase K) Nucleotide Data There are various types of parasitic plants employing a wide range of methods to obtain the required nutrients to grow. A parasitic plant, much like any other parasites, cannot produce all the required nutrients to survive. Therefore, parasitic plants must obtain these nutrients from a host by attaching to some part of the host via the haustorium and leech the nutrients out (Losner et al. 1998). This can also lead to the death of the host plant. Depending on the parasitic plant, various nutrients are required, and as such the plant exhibits efficient growth to obtain the nutrients. One essential system, photosynthesis, provides crucial components for a plant to survive. Despite providing necessary components for a plants survival, many parasitic plants do not perform photosynthesis. To get around this, the plants must gather the products of photosynthesis from another plant that has done the work. Parasitic plants can be divided into two categories based off their needs, holoparasite s and hemiparasites (dePamphilis et al. 1997). Holoparasites can’t make their own nutrients, and rely entirely on parasitism for nutrients. Hemiparasites on the other hand, can obtain some nutrients from parasitism and some on their own. Even if a plant lacks the ability to utilize photosynthesis, it can still contain chloroplast. A chloroplast gene that is commonly used to determine phylogeny, especially in Orobanche,