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Study Reveals Balanophora's Evolutionary Loss of Photosynthesis

12/28/2025

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Summary

Story summary

A new study finds that the parasitic plant Balanophora has drastically reduced photosynthesis, with plastid genomes shrinking to 14,000–16,000 base pairs from about 120,000–170,000.
This adaptation allows Balanophora to thrive by extracting nutrients from tree roots, and the plant resembles mushrooms in behavior.
Some species reproduce asexually, boosting survival on isolated islands, and the findings, published in New Phytologist, underscore Balanophora as a model for the evolutionary loss of photosynthesis.

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Story summary

A new study finds that the parasitic plant Balanophora has drastically reduced photosynthesis, with plastid genomes shrinking to 14,000–16,000 base pairs from about 120,000–170,000.
This adaptation allows Balanophora to thrive by extracting nutrients from tree roots, and the plant resembles mushrooms in behavior.
Some species reproduce asexually, boosting survival on isolated islands, and the findings, published in New Phytologist, underscore Balanophora as a model for the evolutionary loss of photosynthesis.