Subtopic Deep Dive

Strigolactone Perception by DWARF14
Research Guide

What is Strigolactone Perception by DWARF14?

Strigolactone perception by DWARF14 refers to the molecular recognition of strigolactone ligands by the DWARF14 (D14) α/β-hydrolase receptor protein, triggering conformational changes that initiate downstream signaling via MAX2 and D53/SMXL repressors in plants.

DWARF14 binds strigolactones and carlactone derivatives, hydrolyzing them to induce receptor activation (Nakamura et al., 2013, 359 citations). This process recruits the MAX2 F-box protein and leads to ubiquitination and degradation of transcriptional repressors like D53 (Wang et al., 2020, 340 citations). Over 10 key papers since 2013 detail ligand-receptor interactions and signaling complexes.

Curated Papers

Key Challenges

Why It Matters

Understanding DWARF14-mediated strigolactone perception enables design of inhibitors to block host signals that induce seed germination in root parasitic plants like Striga and Orobanche, reducing crop losses in Africa and Asia. Nakamura et al. (2013) resolved the D14-strigolactone crystal structure, guiding rational inhibitor design. Waters et al. (2017) linked perception to symbiotic signaling, informing strategies for enhancing beneficial mycorrhizal associations while disrupting parasitism.

Key Research Challenges

Ligand Binding Specificity

DWARF14 distinguishes strigolactone stereoisomers and precursors like carlactonoic acid methyl ester, but precise binding affinities vary across species (Abe et al., 2014, 415 citations). Structural dynamics during hydrolysis remain unresolved. Scaffidi et al. (2014, 300 citations) showed stereoisomer-specific signaling via D14 and KAI2.

Downstream Signaling Complexes

Assembly of D14-MAX2-D53 complexes requires precise ubiquitination timing, with species differences complicating models (Wang et al., 2020). D53 degradation triggers tillering, but feedback loops are unclear. Song et al. (2017, 280 citations) identified IPA1 as a D53-repressed effector.

Inhibitor Design for Parasitism

Developing D14 antagonists to prevent parasitic plant germination faces challenges in selectivity over host signaling (Waters et al., 2017). Off-target effects on shoot branching occur. Shinohara et al. (2013, 428 citations) linked strigolactones to PIN1 auxin transport.

Essential Papers

Genetic Regulation of Shoot Architecture

Bing Wang, Steven M. Smith, Jiayang Li · 2018 · Annual Review of Plant Biology · 747 citations

Shoot architecture is determined by the organization and activities of apical, axillary, intercalary, secondary, and inflorescence meristems and by the subsequent development of stems, leaves, shoo...

Strigolactone Signaling and Evolution

Mark T. Waters, Caroline Gutjahr, Tom Bennett et al. · 2017 · Annual Review of Plant Biology · 637 citations

Strigolactones are a structurally diverse class of plant hormones that control many aspects of shoot and root growth. Strigolactones are also exuded by plants into the rhizosphere, where they promo...

Strigolactone Can Promote or Inhibit Shoot Branching by Triggering Rapid Depletion of the Auxin Efflux Protein PIN1 from the Plasma Membrane

Naoki Shinohara, Cathy Taylor, Ottoline Leyser · 2013 · PLoS Biology · 428 citations

Plants continuously extend their root and shoot systems through the action of meristems at their growing tips. By regulating which meristems are active, plants adjust their body plans to suit local...

Carlactone is converted to carlactonoic acid by MAX1 in<i>Arabidopsis</i>and its methyl ester can directly interact with AtD14 in vitro

Satoko Abe, Aika Sado, Kai Tanaka et al. · 2014 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 415 citations

Significance Strigolactones (SLs) are plant hormones that inhibit shoot branching and are parasitic and symbiotic signals toward root parasitic plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, respectively...

Molecular mechanism of strigolactone perception by DWARF14

Hidemitsu Nakamura, Y. Y. Xue, Takuya Miyakawa et al. · 2013 · Nature Communications · 359 citations

Carlactone is an endogenous biosynthetic precursor for strigolactones

Yoshiya Seto, Aika Sado, Kei Asami et al. · 2014 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 341 citations

Significance Strigolactones (SLs) were initially characterized as root-derived signals for parasitic and symbiotic interactions with root parasitic plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, respecti...

Transcriptional regulation of strigolactone signalling in Arabidopsis

Lei Wang, Bing Wang, Hong Yu et al. · 2020 · Nature · 340 citations

Reading Guide

Foundational Papers

Start with Nakamura et al. (2013, 359 citations) for D14-strigolactone structure; Abe et al. (2014, 415 citations) for precursor binding; Shinohara et al. (2013, 428 citations) for physiological outputs like PIN1 depletion.

Recent Advances

Wang et al. (2020, Nature, 340 citations) on transcriptional regulation; Song et al. (2017, Cell Research, 280 citations) on IPA1-D53 pathway; Scaffidi et al. (2014, 300 citations) on stereoisomer signaling.

Core Methods

X-ray crystallography for D14-ligand complexes (Nakamura et al., 2013); pull-down assays for MAX2 recruitment (Wang et al., 2020); stereoisomer synthesis and binding kinetics (Abe et al., 2014; Scaffidi et al., 2014).

How PapersFlow Helps You Research Strigolactone Perception by DWARF14

Discover & Search

PapersFlow's Research Agent uses searchPapers and citationGraph to map 359-cited Nakamura et al. (2013) as the core node, revealing connections to Abe et al. (2014) and Waters et al. (2017); exaSearch uncovers 50+ related works on D14 homologs in parasitic plants.

Analyze & Verify

Analysis Agent employs readPaperContent on Nakamura et al. (2013) to extract crystal structure PDB IDs, verifies signaling claims via verifyResponse (CoVe) against Waters et al. (2017), and runs PythonAnalysis to plot ligand binding affinities from Abe et al. (2014) datasets using matplotlib for statistical validation; GRADE scores evidence strength at A-level for hydrolysis mechanisms.

Synthesize & Write

Synthesis Agent detects gaps in stereoisomer signaling by flagging contradictions between Scaffidi et al. (2014) and Shinohara et al. (2013); Writing Agent uses latexEditText and latexSyncCitations to draft inhibitor design sections citing 10 papers, with latexCompile generating figures and exportMermaid visualizing D14-MAX2-D53 cascades.

Use Cases

"Analyze binding affinities of carlactonoic acid to AtD14 from 2014 PNAS paper."

Research Agent → searchPapers('Abe 2014 carlactone') → Analysis Agent → readPaperContent + runPythonAnalysis (NumPy parsing of Kd values, matplotlib affinity plots) → researcher gets quantified binding curves and statistical fits.

"Draft LaTeX review on D14 signaling complexes with citations."

Synthesis Agent → gap detection on Wang 2020 + Song 2017 → Writing Agent → latexEditText('D14-MAX2-D53') → latexSyncCitations(10 papers) → latexCompile → researcher gets compiled PDF with synced bibtex and diagrams.

"Find code for D14 structural modeling from recent papers."

Research Agent → paperExtractUrls(Nakamura 2013) → Code Discovery → paperFindGithubRepo → githubRepoInspect → researcher gets PyMOL scripts for ligand docking simulations.

Automated Workflows

Deep Research workflow scans 50+ strigolactone papers via citationGraph, structures D14 perception report with GRADE-verified claims from Nakamura et al. (2013). DeepScan applies 7-step CoVe to validate inhibitor hypotheses against Abe et al. (2014) data. Theorizer generates models of D14-D53 interactions from Waters et al. (2017) and Wang et al. (2020).

Try Doxa for Strigolactone Perception by DWARF14 Research

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the definition of strigolactone perception by DWARF14?

DWARF14 (D14) is an α/β-hydrolase receptor that binds and hydrolyzes strigolactones, undergoing conformational change to recruit MAX2 and degrade D53 repressors (Nakamura et al., 2013).

What are key methods for studying D14 perception?

Crystal structures reveal ligand-induced hydrolysis (Nakamura et al., 2013); in vitro binding assays confirm carlactone derivatives interact directly (Abe et al., 2014); genetic mutants dissect signaling (Wang et al., 2020).

What are the most cited papers on DWARF14?

Nakamura et al. (2013, Nature Communications, 359 citations) details molecular mechanism; Abe et al. (2014, PNAS, 415 citations) shows carlactonoic acid-D14 interaction; Waters et al. (2017, 637 citations) reviews signaling evolution.

What open problems exist in D14 research?

Species-specific D14 homologs in parasites need structural resolution; selective inhibitors avoiding host branching defects remain elusive (Scaffidi et al., 2014); dynamic complex assembly timing requires cryo-EM studies.