2. Academic Validation
  3. A femtomolar-range suicide germination stimulant for the parasitic plant Striga hermonthica

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

  • Science. 2018 Dec 14;362(6420):1301-1305. doi: 10.1126/science.aau5445.
Daisuke Uraguchi 1,  Keiko Kuwata 2,  Yuh Hijikata 2 3,  Rie Yamaguchi 2,  Hanae Imaizumi 2,  Sathiyanarayanan Am 2,  Christin Rakers 3,  Narumi Mori 4,  Kohki Akiyama 4,  Stephan Irle 2 3,  Peter McCourt 5,  Toshinori Kinoshita 2 3,  Takashi Ooi 1 2 6,  Yuichiro Tsuchiya 7
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan. uraguchi@chembio.nagoya-u.ac.jp tooi@chembio.nagoya-u.ac.jp yuichiro@itbm.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
  • 2 Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
  • 3 Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602, Japan.
  • 4 Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Osaka Prefecture University, 1-1 Gakuen-cho, Naka-ku, Sakai, Osaka 599-8531, Japan.
  • 5 Department of Cell and Systems Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto M5S 3B2, Canada.
  • 6 Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology, Japan Science and Technology Agency (CREST), Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan.
  • 7 Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules (WPI-ITbM), Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan. uraguchi@chembio.nagoya-u.ac.jp tooi@chembio.nagoya-u.ac.jp yuichiro@itbm.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
PMID: 30545887 DOI: 10.1126/science.aau5445
Abstract

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.

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