Binding or Hydrolysis? How Does the Strigolactone Receptor Work?

The strigolactone (SL) receptor in plants is unusual in that it both binds and hydrolyses SL molecules. Landmark studies had proposed that a product of hydrolysis irreversibly binds the receptor and then activates signalling. However, recent breakthrough articles (Seto et al. Nat. Commun. 2019;10:191 and Shabek et al. Nature 2018;563:652-656) have revealed a new model based on inhibition of hydrolysis by protein conformation.