Luiza Teixeira-Costa

Plants interact with each other in many different ways, from cooperative to competitive associations. A particular ecological interaction is established by plants that grow as parasites on other plants. These botanical parasites have distinctive structures, physiological mechanisms, ecology, and evolutionary histories. They act as key ecosystem components that help boost biodiversity but can also grow as devastating pests that hamper wood and crop production. In my research, I use these often strange and an eye-catching parasitic plant as study models to analyze multiple aspects of plant-plant connections: from anatomy and development to ecophysiology and coevolution. 

Selected publications

• L. Teixeira-Costa; J.M. Heberling,; C.A. Wilson; C. Davis. 2023. Parasitic flowering plant collections embody the extended specimen concept. Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
• L. Teixeira-Costa; C. Davis 2021. Life history, diversity, and distribution in parasitic flowering plants. Plant Physiology.
• L. Teixeira-Costa. 2021. A living bridge between two enemies: haustorium structure and evolution across parasitic flowering plants. Brazilian Journal of Botany.
• Y. Krasylenko.; J. Těšitel; (...) L. Teixeira-Costa. 2021. Parasites on parasites: hyper-, epi- and autoparasitism among plants. American Journal of Botany.