Do plants get sexually transmitted diseases?

摘要

Researchers have long known that certain fungal parasites can spread from one flower to another via pollen transfer. And like most animal STDs, plant STDs aren't usually fatal for the individual host plant. Still, the concept of "sexually transmitted diseases" doesn't fit neatly into the plant kingdom. For one thing, the infections are not transmitted through direct physical contact, as in animals. Typically, the fungal spores make their way from plant to plant on gusts of wind or by hitching a ride on a pollinating insect. The best-studied plant STD is Microbotryum violaceum, a pathogen that affects flowering plants called campions. Both the male and female flowers of plants infected with M. violaceum serve as breeding grounds for the fungal spores, which can then be spread by bumblebees and other pollinators. The fungus may even stimulate a diseased plant to produce extra flowers in order to spread the infection more efficiently.