The genome of parasitic plant Cuscuta australis

The worldwide distributed parasitic plants dodders (Cuscuta spp., Convolvulaceae) are root- and leafless and parasitize a wide range of hosts. A high-quality genome of Cuscuta australis was generated, and we show that Cuscuta experienced accelerated evolution and Cuscuta and the convolvulaceous Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil) had a common whole-genome triplication event before the divergence of these two lineages. C. australis genome displays strong contraction and we also identified complete gene losses in various gene families, many of which are involved in maintaining autotrophic lifestyle and resistance to stress factors, indicating that gene loss underlies the regressive evolution of Cuscuta. The C. australis genome provides important resources for studying the evolution of parasitism, regressive evolution, and evo-devo in plant parasites.