The biology of strigolactones

The strigolactones are rhizosphere signaling molecules as well as a new class of plant hormones with a still increasing number of biological functions being uncovered. Here, we review a recent major breakthrough in our understanding of strigolactone biosynthesis, which has revealed the unexpected simplicity of the originally postulated complex pathway. Moreover, the discovery and localization of a strigolactone exporter sheds new light on putative strigolactone fluxes to the rhizosphere as well as within the plant. The combination of these data with information on the expression and regulation of strigolactone biosynthetic and downstream signaling genes provides new insights into how strigolactones control the many different aspects of plant development and how their rhizosphere signaling role may have evolved.