A study published on Thursday brings new information about how plants communicate, giving scientists data that may help them ward off parasitic vegetation from crops.

The Cuscuta pentagona is a snake-like vine that binds its hosts in a coiled grip, penetrates the stem and saps the nutrients from the unfortunate plant. Commonly known as dodder or strangleweed, the parasitic vine's usual prey are fast-breeding crop plants. After attaching to a host and proliferating, it then seeks additional plants in its surroundings to parasitize, according to the Science Recorder.

Like Us on Facebook

"It's a good parasite, so it doesn't rapidly kill its host," said study co-author James Westwood, professor of plant pathology, physiology and weed science at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Westwood and his colleagues discovered that when the vine wraps itself around its host, it punctures the victim's tissue with its haustoria, the parasitic plant's sharp appendages, to drain life-giving substances, such as glucose and water.

The team's study shows that the parasite possesses messenger RNA, or mRNA. The mRNA molecules have a single strand of DNA that carries a template of proteins from the nucleus of the plant's cell to the location where proteins are made, transporting genetic orders directly to where the vine's developing cells are. In the case of the vampire plant, the mRNA could contain instructions on how to develop its root systems and build leaf shapes.

The research team  experimented with plants from the Arbidopsis species and tomato plants and found out that the mRNA molecules were being exchanged between the host and parasite.

"We're finding there is a massive, bidirectional movement of RNA between the host and the parasite," Westwood said.

The strangleweed could be capable of modifying the chemical constituents of its host to bring down its remaining defenses. The dodder uses a complex net of DNA and RNA to communicate with its victim.

TagsVampire, Plant, DNA, RNA, mRNA, Vampiric, Vine