Defence responses of native and invasive plants to the native generalist vine parasite Cassytha pubescens – anatomical and functional studies
Evelina Facelli
A B F , Noriko Wynn A C , Hong T. Tsang A D , Jennifer R. Watling A E and José M. Facelli A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Ecology and Environmental Science, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia.
B Agriculture, Food and Wine, Waite Campus, The University of Adelaide, PMB 1, Glen Osmond, SA 5064, Australia.
C Aurecon, 850 Collins Street, Docklands, Vic. 3008, Australia.
D State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
E All Saints Building, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M15 6BH, UK.
F Corresponding author. Email: evelina.facelli@adelaide.edu.au
Australian Journal of Botany 68(4) 300-309 https://doi.org/10.1071/BT19136
Submitted: 13 August 2019 Accepted: 5 June 2020 Published: 29 June 2020
Abstract
We investigated the responses of two invasive and two native host species to the parasitic vine Cassytha pubescens R.Br. using glasshouse experiments. We assessed growth of the parasite and its hosts, and anatomy and functionality of haustoria. Target hosts were infected using C. pubescens already established on a donor host. This enabled measurement of growth in target hosts that were detached (parasite connection severed) or not from the donor host. Haustorial connections to hosts were investigated using histological methods. We tested the functionality of haustoria in one invasive and one native host using radiolabelled phosphorus (32P). After it was severed from the donor host, C. pubescens grew poorly on the native host, Acacia myrtifolia (Sm.) Willd. This was likely due to a lack of effective functional haustorial development because although haustoria were firmly attached and morphologically alike those formed on the other hosts, their anatomy was different: their connections with the vascular system were not developed and there was no transfer of 32P from A. myrtifolia to the parasite. In contrast, the other three host species supported the growth of the parasite and had fully developed haustoria. Effective transfer of 32P from the invasive host to the parasite confirmed this. Our results suggest a range of defence mechanisms in C. pubescens hosts and are consistent with reports of strong detrimental effects on invasive hosts. Further, they amount to evidence for the potential use of a native parasite as biological control for invasive species.
Additional keywords: Acacia myrtifolia, biological control, Cassytha pubescens, Cytisus scoparius, histology, Leptospermum myrsinoides, parasitic plants, 32P tracer.
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