Masahiko Yoshimura,* Yuichiro Tsuchiya, Yoshikatsu Sato, Kenichiro Itami, Toshinori Kinoshita, Shinya Hagihara

Plant Morphology in press. (invited review)

Striga hermonthica is a parasitic plant that deprives host crops of nutrients. This parasite causes the largest agricultural damage in Africa by spoiling important crops such as rice, corn and sorghum. The agricultural losses are estimated to be 10 billion per year, making the Striga problem an issue to be urgently solved.  Since the first isolation of strigolactones as a host-derived germination stimulant, it has been a center of attention to control the Striga problem. In this review, recent research on strigolactones and their receptor proteins in Striga is summarized.