Abamine as a basis for new designs of regulators of strigolactone production

Nine-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED), belonging to the family of carotenoid-cleaving dioxygenases (CCDs), is the rate-limiting step in the abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthetic pathway in plants. Abamine is the first reported abscisic acid biosynthesis inhibitor to target NCED. Its utility has also been considered in the inhibition of other enzymes. As CCDs other than NCED are also involved in the strigolactone biosynthetic pathway, abamine may affect strigolactone biosynthesis. In this study, we found that abamine decreases the level of strigolactones in several plant species and reduces the germination rate of Orobanche minor seeds co-grown with tobacco. Taken together, these data suggest that abamine may be used as a scaffold for the development of specific regulators of strigolactone production.