Asexual parasitic plants break biology’s rules

abdulmanannet77@gmail.comDecember 11, 2025

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Asexual parasitic plants break biology’s rules

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Photosynthesis. Learning how plants use sunlight and water to make their own food is an essential part of biology class and makes life on Earth possible. Yet not all of the more than 300,000 known plant species are food-producing powerhouses that reproduce sexually. Instead, plants like those of the genus Balanophore are asexual parasites. These alien plants call into question the very foundations of plant biology.

“My long-standing goal has been to rethink what it really means to be a plant,” Kenji Suetsugu, a botanist at Kobe University in Japan, said in a statement. “For many years I have been fascinated by plants that have given up photosynthesis and am interested in discovering the changes that occur during this process.”

Suetsugu is the co-author of a study recently published in the journal New plant scientist which delves into the world of these asexual parasites. Balanophore the species is considered an extreme example of non-green plants that feed on each other’s roots. They live primarily underground and are found in tropical regions of Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. In the mountains of Taiwan and Japan, they grow at the base of mossy trees, often looking more like a mushroom. The plants have the smallest flowers and seeds in the world and only appear during the flowering season from July to October.

a mushroom-like plant growing at the base of a tree — A macro photograph of a group of mushroom-like plants on the forest floor against a mossy background. These are *Balanophora fungosa ssp. mushroom* from the south of the island of Okinawa. *Image: Filip Husnik.*

A few Balanophore species reproduce sexually, while others are exclusively asexual. However, it is still unclear how changes in plant genomes affect their ecology and reproduction. For this new study, Suetsugu and his partners at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology analyzed three main components of Balanophore evolution. They needed to understand how plants in this group whose genes have changed for asexual behavior relate to each other. Next, they looked at how these genes changed the part of a plant’s cell that functions like a solar panel and absorbs sunlight in green plants, called plastids. Finally, they need to have a better idea of how reproduction fits into their ecology.

According to Suetsugu, the biggest challenge was simply finding the plants. “These plants are rare, patchy, and often restricted to steep, humid forests. But years of experience studying Balanophore both in laboratory and field studies, as well as long-standing relationships with local naturalists made this project possible,” he said.

They found that Balanophore plants have an extremely limited plastid genome, where green plants absorb sunlight. This reduction in genetic material likely occurred in their common ancestor, before the plants diversified into several different species. Most parasitic plants tend to lose genes in their plastids as they become more dependent on their host plants. However, even if Balanophore are entirely dependent on their host trees for food, they still have some plastids.

“It is exciting to see how far a plant can shrink its plastid genome, which at first glance appears to be on the verge of extinction,” Suetsugu said. “But upon closer inspection, we found that many proteins are still transported to the plastid, showing that even though the plant has given up photosynthesis, the plastid remains a vital part of the plant’s metabolism.”

A selection of Balanophora plants sampled. (a) B. japonica (left and center: Kyushu, Japan; right: Taiwan), (b) B. mutinoides (Taiwan), (c) B. tobiracola (left to right: Okinawa, Japan; Taiwan), (d) B. subcupularis (Kyushu, Japan), (e) B. fungosa ssp. fungosa (left to right: Okinawa, Japan; Taiwan), (f) B. yakushimensis (left to right: Kyushu, Japan; Taiwan), (g) B. nipponica (Honshu, Japan). — A selection of Balanophora plants sampled. (A) *B. japonica* (left and center: Kyushu, Japan; right: Taiwan), (b) *B. mutinoids* (Taiwan), (c) *B. tobiracola* (left to right: Okinawa, Japan; Taiwan), (d) *B. subcupular* (Kyushu, Japan), (e) *B. fungosa ssp. mushroom* (left to right: Okinawa, Japan; Taiwan), (f)*B. yakushimensis*(left to right: Kyushu, Japan; Taiwan), (l)*B. nipponica*(Honshu, Japan).Image: Svetlikova et al.New plant scientist(2025).

As for their asexual reproduction, this probably evolved several times within the group. Plants may have evolved the additional ability to create seeds without fertilization early in their evolution and this was an advantage when they colonized the archipelago stretching from mainland Japan via the island of Okinawa further south to Taiwan.

“Over the past decade, I have studiedBalanophorepollination and seed dispersal where crickets and cockroaches play an unexpected role, but I also noticed that asexual seed production often ensures reproduction when mates or pollinators are rare,” explained Suetsugu.

Eventually, asexual reproduction may have become permanent in some countries.Balanophorespecies.

In future work, the team hopes to link these results to more biochemical data to see whatBalanophoreplastids actually produce food and explain how they help sustain these parasitic plants as they grow into their host’s roots.

“For someone who has spent many hours observing these plants in dark, humid forests, seeing their story unfold at the genomic level is deeply satisfying,” Suetsugu concluded.