Autecious

/ɔːˈtiːʃəs/ adjective

Definition

In botany and mycology, describing a parasite or fungus that completes its entire life cycle on a single host species, never requiring alternate hosts.

Etymology

From Greek autos 'self' + oikos 'house/home'—meaning 'staying in its own house.' The term is used in plant pathology to classify rust fungi and similar parasites.

Kelly Says

Autecious fungi are evolutionary lazybones—instead of jumping to different plant hosts like their relatives, they've specialized so completely on one host that they can't survive anywhere else.

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