• Cuscuta spp. are holoparasitic plants that can simultaneously parasitise several host plants. It has been suggested that Cuscuta has evolved a foraging strategy based on a positive relationship between preuptake investment and subsequent reward on different host species. • Here, we establish reliable parasite size measures and show that parasitism on individuals of different host species alte...

Cuscuta chinensis and Cuscuta australis, the two botanical sources of the Chinese herbal medicine Tu-Si-Zi, were distinguished from each other based on qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis. By HPLC‑DAD‑MS, a total of 36 compounds were characterized from these two Cuscuta species, including 14 flavonoids, 17 quinic acid derivatives, and 5 lignans. In addition, HPLC‑UV was applied to de...

The genus Cuscuta (Convolvulaceae, the morning glory family) is one of the most intensely studied lineages of parasitic plants. Whole plastome sequencing of four Cuscuta species has demonstrated changes to both plastid gene content and structure. The presence of photosynthetic genes under purifying selection indicates that Cuscuta is cryptically photosynthetic. However, the tempo and mode of pl...

Around 1% of angiosperms are parasitic plants. Their growth and development solely or partly depend on host plants from which they extract water, nutrients, and other molecules using a parasitic plant-specific organ, the haustorium. Strong depletion of nutrients can result in serious growth retardation and in some cases, death of the hosts. The genus Cuscuta (dodder) comprises about 200 holopar...

AIM: To identify the chemical constituents in Cuscuta Chinensis. METHODS: A High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method combined with quadrupole-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (QTOF-MS) has been developed for precise separation and structural identification of components in Cuscuta Chinensis. Mass spectrometry was performed in reflective time-of-flight using electron spraying ionizat...

Cuscuta reflexa (whole plant) and Calotropis procera (leaves) are used in folk medicine of Bangladesh to control blood sugar in patients suffering from diabetes mellitus. The hypoglycemic effects of methanol and chloroform extracts of whole plants of Cuscuta reflexa, and methanol extract of leaves of Calotropis procera were investigated in oral glucose tolerance tests in Long Evans rats and Swi...

Hook opening in seedlings of Cuscuta gronovii Willd. occurred only after prolonged exposures to blue, red, or far red light. Prolonged far red exposure was less effective than prolonged exposure to red or blue light. Brief far red irradiation inhibited the inductive effect of red light. The far red inhibition was in turn reversed by brief red irradiation. These effects suggest the involvement o...

The purpose of this study was to examine in vitro the herbicidal effect an essential oil dill (Anethum graveolens) on germination and early seedling growth two parasitic flowering plants genus Cuscuta (Cuscuta campestris C. epithymum), as well its phytotoxic impact host (alfalfa red clover). Chemical analysis extracted from leaves flowers showed that carvone (51.69%) limonene (39.88%) predomina...

OBJECTIVES This study used the basic principle of Oriental medicine, the sovereign, minister, assistant and courier principle () to investigate the effects of the component of ONGABO, which is composed of Ginseng Radix (Red Ginseng), Angelica Gigantis Radix, Schisandrae Fructus, Cuscuta Semen and Curcumae tuber on the viability of HepG2 cells. METHODS Single and mixed extracts of the componen...