haustorium

Definition

A root of a parasitic plant modified to take nourishment from its host.

Etymology

From Latin haustor (“drainer”) + -ium.

Example Sentences

• "In the substomatal chamber all the signals that regulate the interaction between fungus and host are present along the entire structure of the rust fungus, from the vesicle to the first haustorium which, in the dikaryotic stage, is the first intracellular structure (Mendgen et al., 1988; Heath, 1989, 1995)."