Host Range and Phylogeny of Cuscuta Campestris Yunck With Newly Added Members From the Poaceae Family in Türkiye

Abstract

Abstract Field dodder (Cuscuta campestris Yunck) is an annual parasitic plant that wraps around the host plant and attaches to haustoria. The dodder attachment occurred rarely in the Poaceae family, and there are limited cases worldwide. During an extensive survey in Thrace, Türkiye, to determine the distribution of C. campestris Yunck, the dodder was found attached to monocotyledon plants, including Setaria viridis (L.) P. Beauv, Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers., Alopecurus myosuroides Huds, Avena fatua L., Avena sterilis L., Eleusine indica (L.) Gaertn, Echinocloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv, Bromus tectorum L., Hordeum murinum L., Elymus repens (L.) Gould, and Lolium perenne L. The crop plants attached by dodder include Secale cereale L. and Triticum aestivum L. The parasite’s damage was visible in Echinocloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv, and Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers. For molecular analysis, dodder DNA was extracted by the CTAP method. PCR was performed, and the PCR product was sequenced. The similarity in the sequence was compared with Blast records of other countries, and our local population showed higher similarity with 100 hits. Neighbour-joining was performed on Mega X software, comparing 30 different sequences, and the phylogenetic tree was generated. Compared with C. campestris accessions KJ400050 and EU883527 in GENBANK, the Thrace population showed 99% identity.