Acta biol. Colomb., Vol. 14 N.º 3, 2009 197 - 202
FIRST HOST RECORD FOR THE ROOT PARASITE Corynaea crassa
(BALANOPHORACEAE)
Primer registro de la hemiparásita de raíz Corynaea crassa
(Balanophoraceae)
J. TUPAC OTERO1, 2, MARCELA MORA3, JUAN F. COSTA4
Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional de
Colombia, Palmira, Valle, Colombia.
2
Instituto de Estudios Ambientales IDEA, Capítulo Palmira. Universidad
Nacional de Colombia. Palmira, Valle, Colombia.
3
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa,
Alabama 35487. USA.
4
Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco. Cusco-Perú.
Dirección para correspondencia: J. Tupac Otero, Departamento de
Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Palmira, Valle,
Colombia. jtoteroo@unal.edu.co
1
Received 27 March 2009, Revised 2 July 2009 - Acepted 17 September 2009.
ABSTRACT
Corynaea crassa is a root hemiparasitc plant infrequent in nature. There is little information
regarding their natural history, in particular their host range. In this study we dig 32 tubers
and followed their parasitized roots to determine the species host. We found Bocconia
frutescens (Papaveraceae), Verbesina sp. (Asteraceae), Cayaponia sp. (Cucurbitaceae) y
Palicourea sp. (Rubiaceae) as natural hosts of C. crassa. This is the first host record available
for C. crassa and provides some bases for its conservation in natural habitats.
Key words: Balanophoraceae, Corynaea crassa, Costa Rica, host plant, root parasitism.
RESUMEN
Corynaea crassa es una planta hemiparásita de raíz poco común y de la cual sabemos
muy poco acerca de su historia natural y en particular sobre su rango de hospederos.
En este estudio excavamos 32 tubérculos de dicha especie y seguimos las raíces que
estaban parasitando para determinar su identidad. Encontramos Bocconia frutescens
(Papaveraceae), Verbesina sp. (Asteraceae), Cayaponia sp. (Cucurbitaceae) y Palicourea
sp. (Rubiaceae). Este es el primer registro de hospederos disponible para la especies y
este tipo de información es de gran utilidad para las conservación de C. crassa en
hábitats naturales.
Palabras clave: Balanophoraceae, Corynaea crassa, Costa Rica, Planta hospedera, parasitismo radical.
198 Artículo - First Host Record For The Root Parasite Corynaea crassa (Balanophoraceae). Otero, et ál.
INTRODUCTION
The Balanophoraceae is a nonphotosynthetic holoparasite flowering plant family
distributed primarily throughout the tropics. They parasite roots of other plants and
most of their life cycle occurs underground. The vegetative body of the Balanophoraceae
consists of an irregular tissue known as haustorial tuber from which inflorescences
develop (Hsiao et ál., 1993).
Although 15 species in the family are found in America (Gómez, 1983), only one
Amazonian species has been studied from the ecological point of view (Borchsenius
and Olesen, 1990). Here we report observations on the parasitism Corynaea crassa Hook.
f., a Neotropical species distributed from Costa Rica to all the Andean countries except
Chile (W3 TROPICOS, 2007). Although several collections of this species exist, little is
known about their host ranges and levels of specificity and there is no information about
its conservation status. In order to provide key factors determining their distribution to
search for new populations it is important to know their potential host species. In this
study we ask the following questions: (1) which species are the most frequent hosts of
C. crassa? and (2) Does it exist a relation between the size of the host’s root and the size
of the root parasite?
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Corynaea crassa and the other members in the subfamily Helosidoideae, are characterized
by their inflorescence in spadix which developed from subterranean globose to
elongated tubers, large umbrella-like bracts enclosing the young spadix forming a
tectum, a dense layer of nectar-hairs below the tectum, and male and/or female flowers
scattered among the nectar-hairs in more or less distinct patterns (reviewed by Eberwein
and Weber, 2004). Their inflorescences have been reporter to be visited by Hymenoptera
and Diptera (Gómez, 1983) but no study of the pollination biology of the species has
ever been published.
We carried out this study at Cuericí Biological Station (CBS) in Cordillera de Talamanca,
Costa Rica. The CBS is located in San Jose Province, 5 km northeast of Pan-American
Highway (9°33’30”N, 83°39’42”W) at 2400-2900 m altitude and occurs in Montane
Wet Forest life zone (Moran, 2003). The sampling area was centered in a patch of
secondary forest with organic-mater rich soils. For each individual of C. crassa the
haustorial tuber diameter at the base of the tuber and the number of inflorescences
were recorded. To identify the host plant, we excavated the tubers and followed the
host plant root until we found its stem. The diameter of the host root where the
haustorial tuber of the parasite is attached was measured.
RESULTS
We found 32 tubers of C. crassa parasitizing four host species: Bocconia frutescens
(Papaveraceae), Verbesina sp. (Asteraceae), Cayaponia sp. (Cucurbitaceae) and Palicourea
sp. (Rubiaceae) (Table 1). Although we found six additional tubers, we excluded them
from the analysis since we could not follow the host roots they were parasitizing in order
Acta biol. Colomb., Vol. 14 N.º 3, 2009 199
to identify the host species. Most C. crassa tubers were parasitizing roots of Bocconia
frutescens (Papaveraceae; Table 1). All parasitized roots of different host were concentrated
on the top few centimeters of the soil (no more than 30 cm deep).
Host plant
No. of Tubers of C. crassa
Bocconia frutescens (Papaveraceae) 27
Cayaponia sp. (Cucurbitaceae)
3
Palicurea sp. (Rubiaceae)
2
Verbesina sp (Asteraceae)2
Total
34
Percentage (%)
79.4
8.8
5.9
5.9
100
Table 1. Corynaea crassa and its host, studied in a patch of secondary mature forest at Cuericí Biological
Station.
There was no relationship between the diameter of the host root and the size of the tuber
(r2 = 0.06, p = 0.12). However, when we consider only the tubers parasitizing B. frutescens
the correlation was significant (r2 = 0.28, p<0.005, Fig.1). We also found a positive
significant correlation between C. crassa tuber size and number of inflorescences (r2 = 0.46,
p<0.0005, Fig. 2).
Figure 1. Host root diameter (Boconia frutescens) vs. haustorial tuber diameter of the parasitic plant
(Corynaea crassa). The size of the haustorial tuber is correlated to the diameter of the host root (r2 = 0.28,
p<0.005).
DISCUSSION
Many aspects of the biology of C. crassa are poorly known, due largely to their underground
life habit and the seasonal appearance of the inflorescence. The lack of knowledge, the entirely
dependence of this species on other plants for its survival, as well as the conversion of many
areas of cloud forest in to agriculture and pastures make the species vulnerable. Parasitic
plants may also be limited by the additional suite of factors of host availability, host quality,
host resistance to parasitism, and parasite preference (Marvier and Smith, 1996).
In this study we found out that C. crassa is parasitizing different host species, suggesting
that this host parasite interaction could be shaping the local plant community. This
200 Artículo - First Host Record For The Root Parasite Corynaea crassa (Balanophoraceae). Otero, et ál.
Figure 2. Haustorial tuber diameter of the parasitic plant vs. number of inflorescences. The number of
inflorescences is correlated to the size of the haustorial tuber (r2 = 0.46, p<0.005).
could be true for other neotropical cloud forest where this parasite system occurs.
Nevertheless, the fact that they were parasitizing other hosts from different families
suggests not strict host specificity in C. crassa (Fig. 3). These results concur with Werth
et ál., 1979, who reported that most plant parasites are not specific to a single host.
A
B
C
Figura 3. Corynaea crassa. A. Inflorescences. B. Haustorial tuber with inflorescences and the host root.
C. Root of Bocconia frutescence intercepted by C. crassa.
Similarly, Thesium chinensis (Santalaceae) parasitized 38 plant species in Japan (Suetsugu
et ál., 2008). The reduction in host specificity in tropical compared to temperate areas
is considered a consequence of the lower relative abundance of individual host species
(Hawkins et ál., 1992; Norton and De Lange, 1999). The relative broad host range in
Acta biol. Colomb., Vol. 14 N.º 3, 2009 201
C. crassa at CBS can be advantageous as it allows the parasites to grow successfully in
different potential hosts encountered. This suggests that plants with superficial or
shallow roots will be more susceptible of being parasitized. On the other hand, the
factors associated to a higher frequency of parasitism in Bocconia frutescens are not known
yet. The fact that B. frutescence had long roots (up to 7 m) could increase the probability
of been parasitized. Another possible explanation is related to the high abundance of
B. frutescence at the study site. The relative abundance of host species is a key factor
determining the degree of host specificity in a parasite (Norton and Carpenter, 1998).
If further studies prove that C. crassa shows preferences for certain host species, (e.g.
Bocconia frutescens) then conservation efforts should be also addressed to the
management of selected host populations.
A better understanding of this plant-plant interaction and the ecological role that C.
crassa is playing in the ecosystem is necessary in order to have stronger bases for their
successful conservation and restoration. Assuming that bigger tubers are older than
smaller ones, those results suggest that C. crassa starts its life cycle parasitizing small
diameter roots getting thicker as they age together with the host root. We also founded
a positive significant correlation between C. crassa tuber size and number of
inflorescences (r2 = 0.46, p<0.0005, Fig. 2) suggesting that bigger plants can invest
more energy in reproduction and presumably also present higher fitness. Since the
haustorial tuber diameter is correlated to the host root diameter and the number of
inflorescences is determined by the size of the tuber, we could infer that the host
diameter is also a good predictor of the number of inflorescences. More studies with
larger sample size are required taking into account the frequency of all potential host
plants in a given area to determine if high frequency of parasitism reflects indeed host
preference in C. crassa.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We acknowledge the staff at Cuericí, Biological Station for their suport. A. Fargi
commented the manuscript and made useful suggestion to the sampling procedure.
DIPAL, and El Grupo de Investigación en Orquídeas from Universidad Nacional de
Colombia, Sede Palmira supported the participation of JT Otero.
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