Masahiko Yoshimura, Ayato Sato, Keiko Kuwata, Yoshiaki Inukai, Toshinori Kinoshita, Kenichiro Itami, Yuichiro Tsuchiya,* and Shinya Hagihara*

ACS Cent. Sci. 2018, Article ASAP. DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.7b00554

DWARF14 (D14) is a strigolactone receptor that plays a central role in suppression of shoot branching, and hence is a potential target to increase crop productions and biomass. Recently, we reported a fluorescence turn-on probe, Yoshimulactone Green (YLG), which generates a strong fluorescence upon the hydrolysis by D14-type strigolactone receptors. Herein, we applied a YLG-based in vitro assay to a high-throughput chemical screening and identified a novel small molecule DL1 as a potent inhibitor of D14. DL1 competes with endogenous strigolactones, thereby increasing the number of shoot branching in a model plant Arabidopsis as well as in rice. Thus, DL1 is expected to be useful not only as a tool to understand the biological roles of D14 receptors in plant growth and development, but also as a potent agrochemical to improve the crop yield.