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.
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen UR, PO Box 658, 6700 AR, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Qing
Q
Liu
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen UR, PO Box 658, 6700 AR, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Yanxia
Y
Zhang
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen UR, PO Box 658, 6700 AR, Wageningen, the Netherlands.|Institute of Plant Genetics and Biotechnology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Nitra, Slovakia.
Radoslava
R
Matusova
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen UR, PO Box 658, 6700 AR, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Tatsiana
T
Charnikhova
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen UR, PO Box 658, 6700 AR, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Maryam
M
Amini
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen UR, PO Box 658, 6700 AR, Wageningen, the Netherlands.|Department of Biosciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Muhammad
M
Jamil
Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology and Weed Science, Virginia Tech., Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.|Department of Plant Breeding, Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, IAS-CSIC, Córdoba, 14080, Spain.
Monica
M
Fernandez-Aparicio
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.
Kan
K
Huang
Department of Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22904, USA.
Michael P
MP
Timko
Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology and Weed Science, Virginia Tech., Blacksburg, VA, 24061, USA.
James H
JH
Westwood
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen UR, PO Box 658, 6700 AR, Wageningen, the Netherlands.|Plant Research International, Business Unit Bioscience, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Carolien
C
Ruyter-Spira
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen UR, PO Box 658, 6700 AR, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Sander
S
van der Krol
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen UR, PO Box 658, 6700 AR, Wageningen, the Netherlands.|Centre for Biosystems Genomics, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Harro J
HJ
Bouwmeester
D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017343:Genes, Plant; D018525:Germination / Q000235:genetics*; D007783:Lactones / Q000378:metabolism*; D008027:Light; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D018517:Plant Roots; D018520:Plant Shoots; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D057685:Plant Weeds; D012639:Seeds / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D034362:Striga / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D007783:Lactones; C435920:MAX2 protein, Arabidopsis
MAX2; Striga hermonthica; biosynthesis; signaling; strigolactone