Effect of Triiodobenzoic Acid on Broomrape (Orobanche ramosa) Infection and Development in Tomato Plants

Branched broomrape (Orobanche ramosa) is a holo-parasitic flowering plant that attaches to the root of its host, green plant, by means of a specialized structure known as haustorium. Following successful contact and penetration on susceptible plant root, complex tissue of Orobanche cells is formed which is known as the tubercle. Newly formed tubercles contain high activity ofindole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA), as an inhibitor of IAA polar transport, was utilized to investigate the supply and requirement of auxin to the developing O. ramosa on tomato plant. There was no significant reduction in the incidence of O. ramosa per pot of different TIBA treatments. However, infection severity in terms of the number of O. ramosa shoots that emerged per plant and number of attachments per plant root system were significantly reduced by 60 % and 45 % on TIBA treated plants, respectively. Histo-logical studies revealed conspicuous delay in the initiation of xylem vessel differentiation inside tubercles of the TIBA treated tomato plants. Also, differentiated vessels showed thinner secondary wall deposition, and improper alignment within bundles inside those tubercles. They were wider and shorter in diameter in comparison to those of untreated plants. These findings were attri-buted to the short supply of IAA required for normal development, and to the xylem vessel differentiation of O. ramosa tubercles on infected tomato. Hence, this parasitic flowering plant seems to depend upon its host in its requirements for IAA, in a source to sink relation-ship.