Growth Assay for the Stem Parasitic Plants of the Genus Cuscuta

Background

In research fields of plant-pathogen resistance, either in basic research or in economic plant breeding, it is unavoidable to have an assay to quantify resistance against pathogen infection. To quantify the resistance/susceptibility of different plants against Cuscuta infections the simplest way is to measure the gain of biomass of Cuscuta growing on a plant of interest. This is a reliable method since Cuscuta is a holoparasite and its gain of biomass is completely depending on its ability to successfully infect another plant. Thus, unsuccessful infection of a plant leads to a decrease in biomass and subsequently the death of the parasite Cuscuta.