AIM: To identify various interactions among organisms, symbiosis in

Lichens, Parasitism in Cuscuta and symbiosis in root nodules of leguminous

plants.

A. Cuscuta
1. Cuscuta is a parasitic plant. It has no chlorophyll and cannot make its own food by
photosynthesis.
2. Instead, it grows on other plants, using their nutrients for its growth and weakening the
host plant.
3. Cuscuta can be identified by its thin stems appearing leafless, with the leaves reduced to
minute scales.
4. After a it attaches itself to a plant, it wraps itself around it. If the host contains food
beneficial to it, it produces haustoria that insert themselves into the vascular system of the
host. The vestigial root of the cuscuta in the soil then dies.

B. Lichens:
1. Lichens are a small group of plants of composite nature, consisting of two dissimilar
organisms, an alga-phycobiont (phycos — alga; bios — life) and a fungus-mycobiont (mykes —
fungus; bios — life); living in a symbiotic asso-ciation.
2. The algal partner-produced carbohydrate through photosynthesis is utilised by both of them
and the fungal partner serves the func-tion of absorption and retention of water.
3. Based on the morphological structure of thalli, they are of three types crustose, foliose and
fruticose.
4. Lichen reproduces by all the three means – vegetative, asexual, and sexual.

C. Root nodules of leguminous plants :

1. Root nodule symbiosis is a mutualistic interaction observed between mainly

leguminous plants and nitrogen-fixing soil rhizobia, in which plants can obtain fixed
atmospheric nitrogen, and provide rhizobia with photosynthate as a carbon source.

2. They are formed due to association with a nitrogen-fixing bacteria, Rhizobium. Rhizobia
is the general term used for different genera of nitrogen-fixing bacteria, e.g. Rhizobium,
Bradyrhizobium, Azorhizobium, etc.
3. Plants cannot take atmospheric nitrogen directly. These bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen
to ammonia, which can be taken up by plants and utilized in the synthesis of essential
macromolecules such as amino acids, nucleotides, etc.

4. Root nodules are commonly found in the leguminous plants or plants belonging to the
family Fabaceae. Examples are peas, beans, soybean, alfalfa, clover, etc.