Abstract
Parasitic weeds in the Orobanchaceae family pose a major threat to crop production worldwide. Parasitic plants develop specialized invasive structures called haustoria, which penetrate host tissues to establish connections and absorb nutrients. The formation of prehaustoria, early-stage haustorial structures, is triggered by host-derived haustorium-inducing factors (HIFs), such as 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone (DMBQ) and syringic acid. Since prehaustorium formation is a critical initial step in parasitism, its inhibition represents a promising strategy for controlling parasitic weeds. In this study, we performed a chemical screening to identify inhibitors of prehaustorium formation and discovered a compound, designated Haustorium INhibiting Compound 55 (HINC55), that effectively inhibits prehaustorium formation in the parasitic plants Striga (Striga hermonthica) and Phtheirospermum japonicum. Notably, HINC55 suppressed prehaustorium induction by quinones and phenolics, but not by cytokinins in Striga. Furthermore, HINC55 inhibited DMBQ-induced stomata closure in both Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and P. japonicum, suggesting that HINC55 functions as an inhibitor of plant quinone signaling. We used HINC55 to evaluate the composition of HIFs in host root exudates. HINC55 partially suppressed prehaustorium formation in Striga and almost completely in P. japonicum when induced by host root exudates, reflecting the broader HIF responsiveness of Striga. Transcriptome analysis further confirmed the stronger suppression in P. japonicum in response to rice (Oryza sativa) root exudate than in Striga. Overall, HINC55 serves as a tool for investigating plant quinone signaling and dissecting host-parasite chemical communications, as well as a compound for developing novel strategies to control parasitic weeds.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
HINC55 inhibited prehaustorium formation in Striga hermonthica.
- Taxon
- Striga hermonthica
Striga hermonthicae0 - Treatment
- HINC55e0
- Outcome
- prehaustorium formatione0
- Direction
- inhibitse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“HINC55), that effectively inhibits prehaustorium formation in the parasitic plants Striga (Striga hermonthica) and Phtheirospermum japonicum”
Claim · model-written summary
HINC55 inhibited prehaustorium formation in Phtheirospermum japonicum.
- Taxon
- Phtheirospermum japonicum
Phtheirospermum japonicume0 - Treatment
- HINC55e0
- Outcome
- prehaustorium formatione0
- Direction
- inhibitse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“HINC55), that effectively inhibits prehaustorium formation in the parasitic plants Striga (Striga hermonthica) and Phtheirospermum japonicum”
Claim · model-written summary
HINC55 suppressed prehaustorium induction by quinones and phenolics in Striga.
StrigaNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“HINC55 suppressed prehaustorium induction by quinones and phenolics, but not by cytokinins in Striga”
Claim · model-written summary
HINC55 did not suppress cytokinin-induced prehaustorium formation in Striga.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“HINC55 suppressed prehaustorium induction by quinones and phenolics, but not by cytokinins in Striga”
Claim · model-written summary
HINC55 inhibited DMBQ-induced stomatal closure in Arabidopsis thaliana.
- Taxon
- Arabidopsis thaliana
Arabidopsis thalianae0 - Treatment
- HINC55e0
- Outcome
- DMBQ-induced stomata closuree0
- Direction
- inhibitede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“HINC55 inhibited DMBQ-induced stomata closure in both Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and P. japonicum”
Claim · model-written summary
HINC55 inhibited DMBQ-induced stomatal closure in P. japonicum.
- Taxon
- P. japonicumPhtheirospermum japonicume0
- Treatment
- HINC55e0
- Outcome
- DMBQ-induced stomata closuree0
- Direction
- inhibitede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“HINC55 inhibited DMBQ-induced stomata closure in both Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and P. japonicum”
Claim · model-written summary
HINC55 partially suppressed exudate-induced prehaustorium formation in Striga.
- Treatment
- HINC55e0
- Outcome
- prehaustorium formatione0
- Direction
- partially suppressede0
- Qualifier
- host root exudatese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“HINC55 partially suppressed prehaustorium formation in Striga and almost completely in P. japonicum when induced by host root exudates”
Claim · model-written summary
HINC55 almost completely suppressed exudate-induced prehaustorium formation in P. japonicum.
- Taxon
- P. japonicumPhtheirospermum japonicume0
- Treatment
- HINC55e0
- Outcome
- prehaustorium formatione0
- Direction
- almost completelye0
- Qualifier
- host root exudatese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“HINC55 partially suppressed prehaustorium formation in Striga and almost completely in P. japonicum when induced by host root exudates”
Claim · model-written summary
Transcriptome analysis showed stronger suppression by HINC55 in P. japonicum than Striga after rice root exudate exposure.
- Taxon
- P. japonicumPhtheirospermum japonicume0
- Outcome
- suppressione0
- Direction
- strongere0
- Qualifier
- rice (Oryza sativa) root exudatee0
- Comparator
- Strigae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Transcriptome analysis further confirmed the stronger suppression in P. japonicum in response to rice (Oryza sativa) root exudate than in Striga”