When I say "disease," most of you will say "bug, microbe, bacteria, mold or virus". While all these answers are correct, there are other agents of disease and devastation.
Did you know that plants can have parasitic lifestyles?
Figure 1. Image of a display I have created for outreach activities. This creation shows how a parasitic plant can wrap itself around its host and enjoy the nutritious spoils that are produced by its victim.
While this creation may convey a general message (plants can eat plants), it would be more accurate to show some actual images!
Figure 2. Image of a Striga infected field of maize plants (left side). Note the lovely colorful flowers (= Striga). Source
The interaction between parasitic plants such as Striga and their hosts is more than a simple wrap around. The parasite acquires its nutrients by penetration and the formation of intimate structures that allow nutrient uptake, growth, and reproduction Mitsumasu et al., 2015); Delavault et al., 2017).
Figure 3. Left panel: Electron microscope image of a Striga haustorium penetrating a host cell. Px = Pathogen cell, Hx = host cell. Right panel: Schematic representation of supramolecular structures and small molecules that face each other at the host-parasite interface. Figure obtained from Mitsumasu et al., 2015). Source
Although Striga and other parasitic plants produce the most beautiful flowers (and produce seeds to spread its genes as part of its life cycle), I am quite happy that up until now, parasitic plants have only been found able to parasitize fellow plants and not humans!
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REFERENCES:
Delavault, P., Montiel, G., Brun, G., Pouvreau, J. B., Thoiron, S., & Simier, P. (2017). Chapter Three-Communication Between Host Plants and Parasitic Plants. Advances in Botanical Research, 82, 55-82.
Mitsumasu, K., Seto, Y., & Yoshida, S. (2015). Apoplastic interactions between plants and plant root intruders. Frontiers in plant science, 6.