The biology of strigolactones

Ruyter-Spira, Carolien P.; Al-Babili, Salim; van der Krol, Sander; Bouwmeester, Harro J J

The biology of strigolactones

Type

Article

Authors

Ruyter-Spira, Carolien P.
Al-Babili, Salim

van der Krol, Sander
Bouwmeester, Harro J J

KAUST Department

Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering (BESE) Division
Center for Desert Agriculture
Plant Science

Date

2013-02

Abstract

The strigolactones are rhizosphere signaling molecules as well as a new class of plant hormones with a still increasing number of biological functions being uncovered. Here, we review a recent major breakthrough in our understanding of strigolactone biosynthesis, which has revealed the unexpected simplicity of the originally postulated complex pathway. Moreover, the discovery and localization of a strigolactone exporter sheds new light on putative strigolactone fluxes to the rhizosphere as well as within the plant. The combination of these data with information on the expression and regulation of strigolactone biosynthetic and downstream signaling genes provides new insights into how strigolactones control the many different aspects of plant development and how their rhizosphere signaling role may have evolved. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Citation

Ruyter-Spira, C., Al-Babili, S., van der Krol, S., & Bouwmeester, H. (2013). The biology of strigolactones. Trends in Plant Science, 18(2), 72–83. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2012.10.003

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by The Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (to H.J.B.: VICI Grant 865.06.002 and Equipment Grant 834.08.001), Technology Foundation STW (Project 10990) and the EU (METAPRO; FP7 KBBE-2009-3-1-01) (SA). H.J.B. and S.v.d.K. are (co)financed by the Centre for BioSystems Genomics (CBSG), which is part of The Netherlands Genomics Initiative/Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.