Striga hermonthica MAX2 restores branching but not the Very Low Fluence Response in the Arabidopsis thaliana max2 mutant

Summary: Seed germination of Striga spp. (witchweeds), one of the world's most destructive parasitic weeds, cannot be induced by light but is specifically induced by strigolactones. It is not known whether Striga uses the same components for strigolactone signaling as host plants, whether it has endogenous strigolactone biosynthesis and whether there is post-germination strigolactone signaling in Striga. Strigolactones could not be detected in in vitro grown Striga, while for host-grown Striga, the strigolactone profile is dominated by a subset of the strigolactones present in the host. Branching of in vitro grown Striga is affected by strigolactone biosynthesis inhibitors. ShMAX2, the Striga ortholog of Arabidopsis MORE AXILLARY BRANCHING 2 (AtMAX2) - which mediates strigolactone signaling - complements several of the Arabidopsis max2-1 phenotypes, including the root and shoot phenotype, the High Irradiance Response and the response to strigolactones. Seed germination of max2-1 complemented with ShMAX2 showed no complementation of the Very Low Fluence Response phenotype of max2-1. Results provide indirect evidence for ShMAX2 functions in Striga. A putative role of ShMAX2 in strigolactone-dependent seed germination of Striga is discussed. © 2014 New Phytologist Trust.We thank the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (to H.J.B. VICI grant, 865.06.002 and Equipment grant, 834.08.001) for providing funds. This project is co-financed by the Centre for BioSystems Genomics (CBSG) which is part of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative/Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research. M.F-A., J.H.W., M.P.T and K.H. were supported by National Science Foundation grant DBI-0701748, with additional support from the Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship PIOF-GA-2009-252538 (M.F.-A.), USDA Hatch Project no. 135798 (J.H.W.), and NSF award IBN-0322420 and Kirkhouse Trust (M.P.T. and K.H.).Peer Reviewe

Striga hermonthica MAX2 restores branching but not the Very Low Fluence Response in the Arabidopsis thaliana max2 mutant

Seed germination of Striga spp. (witchweeds), one of the world’s most destructive parasitic weeds, cannot be induced by light but is specifically induced by strigolactones. It is not known whether Striga uses the same components for strigolactone signaling as host plants, whether it has endogenous strigolactone biosynthesis and whether there is post-germination strigolactone signaling in Striga. Strigolactones could not be detected in in vitro grown Striga, while for host-grown Striga, the strigolactone profile is dominated by a subset of the strigolactones present in the host. Branching of in vitro grown Striga is affected by strigolactone biosynthesis inhibitors. ShMAX2, the Striga ortholog of Arabidopsis MORE AXILLARY BRANCHING 2 (AtMAX2) – which mediates strigolactone signaling – complements several of the Arabidopsis max2-1 phenotypes, including the root and shoot phenotype, the High Irradiance Response and the response to strigolactones. Seed germination of max2-1 complemented with ShMAX2 showed no complementation of the Very Low Fluence Response phenotype of max2-1. Results provide indirect evidence for ShMAX2 functions in Striga. A putative role of ShMAX2 in strigolactone-dependent seed germination of Striga is discussed