The species of blood-sucking plants

Like Dracula's blood-sucking demons, the dodder will wrap itself around the parasite and drain all the water, nutrients and genetic material from the trunk.

"It is a wise parasite, so it does not quickly kill the host plant," said researcher James Westwood, who currently teaches weed and plant pathology and weed science at Virginia technology school in Blacksburg, told Live Science. " In addition to the" blood-sucking "characteristics like vampires, the dodder does not have any other remarkable ability."

Westwood and two colleagues conducted a study on the parasitic process of dodder on two popular crops, tomatoes and Arabidopsis of the cruciferous family.

Photo: wikimedia

After wrapping around the host plant, the red silk will use its suction roots to pierce through the stem and suck out the sweetener and other nutrients. Earlier, Westwood also discovered that in addition to taking these nutrients, red silk also sucked on RNA, the cytoplasm normally used to transfer genetic information in host DNA into a cytoplasmic system or protein substances.

"We discovered a large two-way RNA transfer between host plants and parasites , " Westwood said. "Just like a hacker finds a way to access a company's internal information system, it is possible to prevent messages about host growth and growth."

Experts say the results of the study help them better understand how to communicate among plant species, and find ways to eradicate parasitic plants that are destroying crops around the world.

Pink silk is a parasitic plant known as Cuscuta pentagona. It usually lives on many popular crops.