The review begins with a principle that has governed plant nutrition for decades. Essentiality means that the absence of even one essential plant nutrient element renders growth or reproduction impossible. By convention, the essentials for plant nutrition include carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, iron, zinc, manganese, copper, boron, chlorine, molybdenum, nickel, and, to the extent that it is accepted as an essential mineral element, cobalt. On a dry-weight basis, the elements derived from air and water, namely carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, account for roughly 94 to 96 percent of plant biomass. The primary macronutrients make up about 2 to 3.5 percent, the secondary macronutrients about 0.5 to 1.5 percent, and the micronutrients less than 0.1 percent of dry mass. Despite their small share, the authors emphasize, these elements sustain light harvesting, water oxidation, electron transport, ATP and NADPH production, the carbon reactions, and the integration of photosynthesis with the metabolism of the whole plant.

To understand why, it helps to revisit the architecture of photosynthesis. Two pigment-protein systems embedded in the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplast, Photosystem I and Photosystem II, mediate light absorption, excitation energy transfer, primary photochemistry, electron transfer, the oxidation of water, and the reduction of NADP+ to NADPH. In addition to electron transfer, several membrane complexes release protons into the thylakoid lumen, generating a proton gradient that is exploited by ATP synthase to produce ATP. The NADPH and ATP are then used to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates via the C3 and C4 pathways, packing energy into sugar bonds. Each of these steps depends on specific elements. Magnesium sits at the center of every chlorophyll molecule, both in the antenna complexes that harvest sunlight and in the reaction-center chlorophylls of Photosystems I and II that drive electron transfer from water to NADP+. Manganese and calcium form the Mn4CaO5 cluster of Photosystem II, the site of water splitting and oxygen evolution. Iron and sulfur together build the iron-sulfur clusters of the cytochrome b6f complex, Photosystem I and ferredoxin, while copper is the redox cofactor of plastocyanin, the mobile carrier that transfers electrons from the cytochrome b6f complex to Photosystem I.

The air- and water-derived elements play roles that go beyond serving as the molecular framework of substrates and products. Carbon is the backbone of all organic molecules, and in plants it is primarily acquired from atmospheric carbon dioxide, which diffuses into leaves through stomata and serves as the inorganic carbon source for the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. But the bicarbonate ion is also a critical cofactor of Photosystem II, regulating the photosynthetic electron transport chain. Hydrogen and oxygen make up the water that is split during water oxidation, the core of oxygenic photosynthesis because it generates molecular oxygen. Furthermore, the hydrogen ions released during water oxidation and other steps play essential roles in generating the pH gradient across the thylakoid membrane that leads to ATP production. The stoichiometry is demanding: the fixation of six carbon dioxide molecules via the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle, corresponding to the synthesis of one glucose equivalent, requires 18 ATP and 12 NADPH molecules, while the oxidation of two water molecules at Photosystem II supplies four electrons that drive the formation of two NADPH molecules and a proton-motive force sufficient to synthesize up to three ATP molecules.

Nitrogen occupies a special place among the macronutrients because its influence on photosynthesis does not saturate the way most mineral nutrients do. Leaf nitrogen content shows an approximately proportional relationship with photosynthetic capacity across a wide physiological range, a relationship that arises because a large fraction of nitrogen is invested directly in the photosynthetic apparatus within the leaf, particularly in rubisco and the thylakoid proteins of the electron transport chain. The capacity for electron transport in the chloroplast is directly proportional to cytochrome f content, and nitrogen assimilation is integral to carbon assimilation. Nitrogen is a constituent of amino acids, proteins, chlorophyll, nucleic acids, NADPH and ATP, and it is a building block of the enzymes of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. Nitrogen use and allocation differ substantially between C3 and C4 plants, a distinction with consequences for how crops respond to fertilization under different climates.

Phosphorus and potassium complete the primary macronutrient picture with distinct technical roles. Phosphorus is a constituent of inorganic phosphate and of the key energy-transfer molecules NADP, NADPH, ADP and ATP, and it is embedded in the thylakoid membrane as phospholipids. Under phosphorus deficiency, the photosynthetic electron transport chain is disrupted, ATP synthase activity is restricted, and carbon dioxide fixation is reduced, linking phosphorus to both the light reactions and the carbon reactions. Potassium, meanwhile, is involved in transmembrane transport and enzyme activation. Ion transporters and potassium channels are integrated into the thylakoid, where a potassium channel activates plastoquinone and a potassium/hydrogen antiporter stimulates electron transport. Energy conversion may be affected by modulation of acidification through thylakoid and lumen potassium and chloride channeling. Potassium also facilitates carbon dioxide diffusion into chloroplasts and is involved in the transport of photosynthates throughout the plant.

The secondary macronutrients and micronutrients reveal how tightly the light and carbon reactions are coupled through metal chemistry. Calcium is part of the Mn4CaO5 cluster required for water oxidation and oxygen evolution, and it is implicated, by still unknown mechanisms, in the regulation of electron transfer and carbon reaction proteins. Magnesium is required for key Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle enzymes and for rubisco activation, and all reactions involving ATP require magnesium ions. Sulfur is associated with iron in the Rieske iron-sulfur protein of the cytochrome b6f complex and is part of several Photosystem I components and ferredoxin, and it is a component of methionine and cysteine, two amino acids central to photosynthetic protein complexes. Zinc is a cofactor of the copper/zinc superoxide dismutase and carbonic anhydrase, contributing to carbon metabolism. Boron is required for the regulation of carbohydrate metabolism in the carbon reactions. Molybdenum is present in four metalloenzymes that catalyze redox reactions in plants, particularly those involved in nitrogen assimilation, and it improves chloroplast configuration and increases chlorophyll content. Chlorine, in the form of chloride ions, is required for Photosystem II activity and is involved in the regulation of proton transfer during water oxidation, acting as an essential micronutrient for Photosystem II photoassembly and photosynthetic oxygen evolution. Nickel and cobalt play indirect roles, mainly as cofactors of the nickel/cobalt transporter-permease NiCo-PIC1, which transports ferrous iron through the inner membrane of the chloroplast, and cobalt is a chaperone of copper in the copper/zinc superoxide dismutase.

The authors also stress that elements work as teams within protein complexes, and that these team relationships are equally essential. Iron and sulfur partner in a Rieske protein. Calcium and manganese partner in the Mn4CaO5 cluster and again in lectins. Cobalt, zinc and copper cooperate in the copper/zinc superoxide dismutase. Iron, nickel and cobalt cooperate in NiCo-PIC1. Metal transporter families, including ABC, CAX, CCX, CDF/MTP, ECA, HMA, NRAMP, OPT, VIT and ZIP, enable the uptake and movement of these nutrients, and transporters coordinate the interplay of compounds, metals and metalloids that regulate the acquisition, distribution and efficient utilization of essential plant nutrients. Close to a third of all known enzymes are associated with the metal elements calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, nickel and cobalt, and these elements are required for the activity of their respective metalloenzymes. The activity of cobalt in chloroplast functions, the authors note, supports its classification as an essential element, and like nickel its optimal foliar dose may be in the nanomolar range.

Signaling and crosstalk emerge as the connective tissue that directs the metabolic pathways of photosynthates such as sugars. Recent work summarized in the review shows that signaling between nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, zinc and iron may involve complex crosstalk processes in response to nutrient deficiency, and that dynamic nutrient signaling networks connect sugar, nitrate and phosphate in controlling molecular pathways. Carbon and nitrogen assimilation are integrated processes, and co-application of elevated carbon dioxide with nitrogen promotes the synthesis of nitrogenous products key to growth, while molybdenum plays key roles in nitrogen assimilation. Several enzymes in the path of carbon are activated by the reduction of disulfide bonds on conversion, in light, of ferredoxin reduced in Photosystem I to a thiol signal, meaning that the light and carbon reactions employ sulfur to transmit signals in the process of photosynthesis. Deficiencies of secondary fertilizers such as calcium, magnesium and sulfur in lateritic and leached acid soils are growing concerns for farm production precisely because these minerals are vital to photosynthesis. Where a deficiency of any element is diagnosed, supplementation by foliar applications is recommended, and because the light reactions of photosynthesis are measured in picoseconds, nutrients cannot be drawn up from roots in the soil to the shoot with such rapidity, making foliar placement at the site of the photosynthetic processes potentially important.

The review closes with a forward-looking argument for agriculture and for the transfer of photosynthesis-related technologies to the field. When treating crops with plant growth regulators, nitrogen input plays integral roles in carbon partitioning, and co-application of essential plant nutrient elements with regulators such as methyl-alpha-D-mannopyranoside, a plant growth regulator for photosynthesis, were found to enhance yields as compared to nutrient controls, with a recognized role for manganese and calcium in the lectin cycle. Lectins have roles in the carbon reactions of photosynthesis, the sugar code and cell signaling, and ongoing studies of the plant lectome may lead the field toward glycomimetics, molecules that emulate the structure and function of natural glycans, which the authors suggest could improve the efficiency of photosynthesis. The authors recommend further investigations, especially for cultivated plants, by means of biocuration and genetic tools including transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, genomics, epigenomics, ionomics and lipidomics, seeking information about the specificity of metalloenzymes to corresponding organelles such as chloroplasts, peroxisomes and vacuoles. They also point to silicon as a beneficial mineral whose interactions with photorespiration and with essential and beneficial elements may indicate a critical role. For now, the message is clear: photosynthesis depends on the presence of essential mineral elements at their sites of action, for the most part in the leaves and green stems of crop plants, and securing their sufficiency is inseparable from securing the energy transformation on which all green plants, and the food systems built upon them, ultimately rely.

Subject of Research: The roles of essential nutrient elements in the light and carbon reactions of photosynthesis

Article Title: The essential nutrient elements in photosynthesis

Article References: Shevela, D., & Nonomura, A. (2026). The essential nutrient elements in photosynthesis. Frontiers in Photobiology, 4, Article 1817712. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphbi.2026.1817712

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fphbi.2026.1817712

Keywords: photosynthesis, essential nutrients, mineral nutrition, chloroplast, Photosystem II, Photosystem I, macronutrients, micronutrients, metalloproteins, electron transport, crop productivity, plant signaling

Sorghum is an unlikely hero in the story of global nutrition. It is the world’s fifth most cultivated cereal, a drought-tolerant C4 grass that thrives where maize and wheat struggle, and a staple source of protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants for food-insecure populations across Africa and Asia. In Brazil, more than 500 million people worldwide depend on sorghum directly or indirectly, and the country harvested roughly 2.5 million tons of the grain across nearly 900,000 hectares in 2021, mostly for animal feed. If that grain could be enriched with selenium without sacrificing yield, the implications for selenium-deficient regions would be enormous.

That is precisely what a team of Brazilian researchers set out to test. In a study published in the journal Plant and Soil, Patriciani Estela Cipriano of the Federal University of Lavras and colleagues grew eight commercial sorghum genotypes across two contrasting field environments in the state of Minas Gerais, spraying the plants with selenium at a rate of just 10 grams per hectare. The twist was the chemistry: alongside the industry-standard sodium selenate, they tested two novel selenium compounds, potassium hydroxy-selenide and acetylselenide, whose behavior inside plants has never been properly characterized. The question was whether these alternatives could match or beat the conventional source, or whether the old standby would prove unbeatable.

The two field sites were chosen deliberately rather than for convenience. In Lavras, the soil was a Dystrophic Red-Yellow Latosol, an Oxisol in international classification, dominated by sandier textures and lower macronutrient fertility but richer in iron. In Lambari, the crop grew on a Melanic Gleysol, a Histosol, with roughly ten times more available phosphorus and potassium, a clay-dominated profile, and higher organic matter. Both locations share a subtropical Cwa climate with dry winters and hot summers, but their soils could hardly be more different. By running identical experiments at both sites, the researchers could determine whether the response to selenium biofortification is a general property of the treatment or something shaped by local conditions.

The experimental design was rigorous. Each site hosted a randomized block experiment with a 4 by 8 factorial layout: four selenium treatments, including an unsprayed control, crossed with eight genotypes named BM737, BRS310, Enforcer, K200, Nugrain320, Nugrain420, Nugrain430, and SHS410. That meant 128 plots per location, each with four rows of plants. The selenium was applied twice, first at flowering and again during grain filling, using a pressurized carbon dioxide sprayer with a surfactant to help the solution stick to leaves. The team then measured grain yield, thousand-grain weight, crude protein, and the concentrations of eleven elements, from nitrogen and phosphorus to iron, zinc, copper, manganese, and selenium itself, using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, with certified reference materials confirming the accuracy of every batch.

The headline result was unambiguous: sodium selenate won the selenium race decisively. Spraying with selenate significantly increased selenium concentrations in both grain and shoots at both locations, with grain levels ranging from 0.31 to 1.01 milligrams per kilogram and shoot levels from 0.76 to 2.45 milligrams per kilogram. The two novel compounds, by contrast, produced selenium concentrations in grain and shoots that were indistinguishable from the unsprayed control, often falling below the detection limit of the analytical equipment. The reason is likely rooted in plant physiology: selenate enters plants through well-described sulfate transporters and is translocated efficiently to the grain, whereas neither hydroxy-selenide nor acetylselenide has a characterized transport pathway. In wheat and rapeseed, mobility follows the order selenate, then selenomethionine, then selenocysteine, and sorghum appears to behave the same way.

But the story did not end there, and this is where the findings become genuinely surprising. Although the novel compounds failed to enrich the grain with selenium, they were far from physiologically inert. Grain yield responses to selenium fertilization were strongly genotype-dependent and were not restricted to the inorganic source. In Lambari, the Enforcer genotype produced yield increases of 32.28 percent under selenate, 28.28 percent under potassium hydroxy-selenide, and 21.79 percent under acetylselenide compared with the control. In Lavras, K200 achieved a striking 88.34 percent yield increase under acetylselenide relative to selenate, while Nugrain320 gained more than 25 percent under acetylselenide compared with the control. The novel compounds also boosted phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc concentrations in specific genotype and site combinations, with increases frequently ranging from 10 to 40 percent.

The researchers used principal component analysis to untangle these patterns, and the results revealed strong three-way interactions among selenium source, genotype, and environment. In Lambari, the first two principal components explained 27.09 and 19.19 percent of total variance, while in Lavras they accounted for 26.72 and 16.64 percent. BRS310 separated clearly from the other genotypes at Lambari, associated with elevated concentrations of calcium, manganese, iron, magnesium, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus in shoots, suggesting superior nutrient absorption and translocation. Nugrain420 and Nugrain430 clustered with grain nutritional enrichment traits, while Enforcer was associated with thousand-grain weight and shoot selenium. Notably, acetylselenide and sodium selenate broadened the dispersion among genotypes at both sites, meaning these treatments amplified the underlying genetic differences rather than flattening them.

The soil context proved equally decisive. Lavras produced higher grain yields and thousand-grain weights, with some genotypes exceeding 6,000 kilograms per hectare even without selenium, well above the Brazilian national average of 2,821 kilograms per hectare recorded in 2021. Lambari, with its more fertile, organic-rich soil, produced higher crude protein and higher concentrations of nitrogen and sulfur in grain, reflecting the interdependent assimilation of these two elements into amino acids. Selenium itself follows the sulfur assimilation pathway, converting into selenomethionine and selenocysteine that are incorporated into proteins, which helps explain why protein-rich environments and selenium enrichment are so closely linked. The team is careful to note that the study covered a single growing season, so interannual climatic variability remains untested, and the mechanisms behind the mineral responses to the novel compounds, whether a sub-detection-limit selenium effect on the antioxidant system or properties of the compounds themselves, cannot yet be distinguished without oxidative-stress biomarkers.

What emerges from this work is a practical roadmap rather than a single prescription. For selenium biofortification in sorghum, foliar sodium selenate applied at around 10 grams per hectare during flowering and grain filling is the most consistent and effective scheme, echoing dose ranges of 10 to 30 grams per hectare reported across wheat, rice, and maize. For yield enhancement and broader mineral gains, the choice of genotype matters as much as the choice of compound, with Enforcer, Nugrain420, Nugrain430, and BM737 showing consistently superior performance across sites. The broader message resonates far beyond Brazilian fields: biofortification is not a one-size-fits-all intervention but a negotiation between chemistry, genetics, and environment. As agricultural production must rise by 60 to 70 percent by 2050 under intensifying climate pressure, getting that negotiation right could quietly deliver one of the cheapest and most scalable public health interventions available, one grain of sorghum at a time.

Subject of Research: Selenium biofortification of grain sorghum through foliar fertilization with novel selenium sources across contrasting tropical soils

Article Title: Optimizing grain sorghum selenium biofortification through foliar fertilization: integrating novel selenium sources, genotype, and contrasting tropical soils

Article References: Cipriano, P. E., Martins, F. A. D., da Silva, D. F., de Oliveira, C., de Lima, A. B., Celante, G., Archilha, M. V. L. R., Botelho, M. F. P., Brunetto, G., Faquin, V., dos Santos, A. A., & Guilherme, L. R. G. (2026). Optimizing grain sorghum selenium biofortification through foliar fertilization: integrating novel selenium sources, genotype, and contrasting tropical soils. Plant and Soil. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-026-09017-1

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s11104-026-09017-1

Keywords: selenium biofortification, sorghum, foliar fertilization, sodium selenate, tropical soils, grain yield, mineral nutrition, genotype environment interaction, micronutrient deficiency, food security, plant physiology, Brazil

Mistletoes are among the most widespread canopy-dwelling parasitic plants in the world. Unlike fully parasitic species, hemiparasites such as T. bangwensis retain the ability to photosynthesise, but they rely on haustorial connections to tap into the vascular tissues of their hosts, drawing water, dissolved minerals and carbon compounds through these physiological lifelines. Because mistletoes transpire at exceptionally high rates, they maintain powerful water potential gradients that pull xylem sap preferentially through their own tissues rather than through the leaves of the host branch. Over time, this can turn the parasite into a mineral nutrient trap, accumulating elements at concentrations equal to or greater than those found in the foliage it feeds upon.

In cocoa, this interaction matters enormously. The crop depends on a carefully balanced supply of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and a suite of micronutrients to sustain canopy growth, energy metabolism, stomatal regulation and the transport of assimilates that ultimately fill cocoa pods. Conventional nutrient management in cocoa systems rests on two pillars: soil fertility assessment and foliar nutrient diagnosis. Soil analyses indicate what is available for uptake, while leaf analyses provide an integrated snapshot of the tree’s actual nutritional status. The implicit assumption is that leaf chemistry largely mirrors soil supply. The new study shows that a parasite can break that assumption.

The scale of the mistletoe problem in West African cocoa is substantial. Surveys in Cameroon have reported infestation incidences exceeding 40 percent in some cocoa-growing communities, with the mistletoe Phragmanthera lapathifolia among the most common offenders. In Ghana, previous work has estimated that roughly 14 percent of all cocoa trees carry mistletoe, and more than 70 percent of those infestations involve T. bangwensis. Farmers readily recognise the visible symptoms, including branch weakening and dieback, but the nutritional consequences of infestation have remained poorly quantified, particularly in perennial tropical crops where nutrient cycling is complex and slow to respond to intervention.

To address this gap, a research team led by Michael Ansong of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology sampled fifteen smallholder cocoa farms across five communities in the Ahafo Ano North and Sefwi Wiawso districts of Ghana between May and July 2024. The farms, which averaged 0.90 hectares, sit within the humid cocoa belt on predominantly Ferralsols and Acrisols, receiving between roughly 1,300 and 1,750 millimetres of rain annually. On each farm, the researchers selected a pair of mature cocoa trees: one visibly infested with at least one active T. bangwensis plant attached to a main or secondary branch, and one confirmed uninfested after careful canopy inspection. The paired trees were matched for stem diameter, height, productive stage, canopy condition and shade environment, minimising confounding variation between the two members of each comparison.

Sampling was deliberately precise. From each infested tree, the team collected four mature, fully expanded cocoa leaves from the branch bearing the mistletoe, taken close to the attachment point and free of disease, herbivory or senescence. Four comparable leaves were taken from the same canopy positions on the uninfested partner tree, and four mature mistletoe leaves were harvested from the same infested branch. Each sample type was composited at the tree level. A single composite soil sample per farm, drawn from the 0 to 20 centimetre depth at five representative positions, characterised background farm fertility. All plant and soil samples were analysed at the university’s Soil Science Laboratory using standard methods: Kjeldahl digestion for nitrogen, molybdenum-blue colorimetry for phosphorus, EDTA titration for calcium and magnesium, turbidimetry for sulphur, flame photometry for potassium, and atomic absorption spectroscopy for iron, copper, zinc and manganese.

The results revealed a strikingly selective pattern of nutrient redistribution rather than a blanket depletion. Infested cocoa leaves contained significantly lower concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and copper than leaves from their uninfested partners. These are nutrients with high physiological stakes: nitrogen and phosphorus drive canopy development and energy metabolism, potassium governs stomatal regulation and assimilate transport, and copper, though needed only in trace amounts, is essential for enzyme activity, photosynthetic electron transport and oxidative stress defences. In contrast, infested leaves showed significantly higher concentrations of calcium and magnesium, while sulphur, iron, zinc and manganese showed no significant differences. The parasite, in other words, does not simply starve its host; it reorganises the host’s internal nutrient economy.

The elevated calcium and magnesium in infested leaves point to a plausible mechanism rooted in water relations. Because mistletoes transpire so vigorously, water arriving through the host branch is diverted through parasite tissues, reducing the flow that would otherwise deliver dissolved minerals to host leaves. Calcium and magnesium are relatively immobile once deposited in leaf tissues, so under this altered flow regime they can accumulate in older foliage rather than being redistributed to actively growing regions of the canopy. The mistletoe leaves themselves told a complementary story: they contained significantly higher concentrations of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur and manganese than the host leaves on the same branch, confirming their role as nutrient-enriched sinks. Differences in nitrogen, iron, copper and zinc between parasite and host were not statistically significant.

Crucially, the team went beyond simple paired comparisons. Using nutrient-specific linear mixed-effects models, with infestation status and the corresponding soil nutrient as fixed effects and farm identity as a random intercept, they tested whether the infestation signal persisted once measured farm-level soil fertility was taken into account. It did. Soil phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, copper and zinc were significant predictors of the corresponding leaf nutrients, confirming that background fertility matters, but infestation remained significantly associated with lower leaf nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and copper and higher leaf calcium and magnesium even after soil covariates were included. Soil sulphur, iron and manganese were not significant predictors of their leaf counterparts. Measured soil nutrients explained part, but not all, of the variation in cocoa leaf chemistry, leaving parasite-mediated redistribution as an independent and influential factor.

The practical implications are considerable. If low nutrient concentrations in infested cocoa leaves were caused purely by poor soil, fertiliser would correct them. But because the parasite acts as a sink that diverts nutrients after the host has already absorbed them, fertiliser alone is unlikely to restore balance while active mistletoe remains attached. The authors argue that foliar diagnosis in infested trees should always be interpreted alongside infestation status, and that soil fertility management will be most effective when combined with early detection, timely pruning and complete removal of active parasite tissues. For smallholder farmers, where fertiliser access is limited and mistletoe control demands labour-intensive manual pruning, that combined strategy may determine whether cocoa canopies, and the beans they produce, reach their full potential. The study also cautions that its farm-level soil sampling, one composite per farm, cannot capture tree-specific nutrient supply, and that future work with tree-level soil data, wider chemical characterisation and yield measurements would strengthen the soil-leaf-parasite picture. What is already clear, however, is that a parasite long treated as a visible nuisance is also an invisible accountant, quietly rewriting the nutrient ledgers of the trees it inhabits.

Subject of Research: Nutrient allocation between hemiparasitic mistletoe and its cocoa host trees

Article Title: Hemiparasitic mistletoe, Tapinanthus bangwensis, alters nutrient allocation in cocoa host-parasite systems

Article References: Ansong, M., Musah, S. A., Owusu, P., & Boadu, K. B. (2026). Hemiparasitic mistletoe, Tapinanthus bangwensis, alters nutrient allocation in cocoa host-parasite systems. Discover Plants, 3(1), Article 446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44372-026-00936-y

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s44372-026-00936-y

Keywords: mistletoe, Tapinanthus bangwensis, cocoa, hemiparasitic plants, nutrient allocation, foliar diagnosis, soil fertility, Ghana, host-parasite interaction, plant physiology, smallholder farms, mineral nutrition