A femtomolar-range suicide germination stimulant for the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica

The parasitic plant Striga hermonthica has been causing devastating damage to the crop production in Africa. Because Striga requires host-generated strigolactones to germinate, the identification of selective and potent strigolactone agonists could help control these noxious weeds. We developed a selective agonist, sphynolactone-7, a hybrid molecule originated from chemical screening, that contains two functional modules derived from a synthetic scaffold and a core component of strigolactones. Cooperative action of these modules in the activation of a high-affinity strigolactone receptor ShHTL7 allows sphynolactone-7 to provoke Striga germination with potency in the femtomolar range. We demonstrate that sphynolactone-7 is effective for reducing Striga parasitism without impinging on host strigolactone-related processes.

Source: ScienceNOW - December 13, 2018 Category: Science Authors: Uraguchi, D., Kuwata, K., Hijikata, Y., Yamaguchi, R., Imaizumi, H., AM, S., Rakers, C., Mori, N., Akiyama, K., Irle, S., McCourt, P., Kinoshita, T., Ooi, T., Tsuchiya, Y. Tags: Botany reports Source Type: news