Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
Volume 69, Issue 9, Pages 2265-2280Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erx472
Keywords
Autotrophic plants; germination stimulants; obligate root-parasitic plants; Orobanchaceae; seed germination; strigolactones
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Funding
- French Ministry of Education and Research, a Tournesol exchange grant (France-Flanders)
- CondOr project of RH Objectif Vegetal, Region des Pays-de-la-Loire, France
- Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology and a Tournesol exchange grant (Flanders-France)
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Obligate root-parasitic plants belonging to the Orobanchaceae family are deadly pests for major crops all over the world. Because these heterotrophic plants severely damage their hosts even before emerging from the soil, there is an unequivocal need to design early and efficient methods for their control. The germination process of these species has probably undergone numerous selective pressure events in the course of evolution, in that the perception of host derived molecules is a necessary condition for seeds to germinate. Although most of these molecules belong to the strigolactones, structurally different molecules have been identified. Since strigolactones are also classified as novel plant hormones that regulate several physiological processes other than germination, the use of autotrophic model plant species has allowed the identification of many actors involved in the strigolactone biosynthesis, perception, and signal transduction pathways. Nevertheless, many questions remain to be answered regarding the germination process of parasitic plants. For instance, how did parasitic plants evolve to germinate in response to a wide variety of molecules, while autotrophic plants do not? What particular features are associated with their lack of spontaneous germination? In this review, we attempt to illustrate to what extent conclusions from research into strigolactones could be applied to better understand the biology of parasitic plants.
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