Science and application of strigolactones

Strigolactones (SLs) represent a class of plant hormones that regulate developmental processes and play a role in the response of plants to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Both in planta hormonal roles and ex planta signalling effects of SLs are potentially interesting agricultural targets. In this review, we explore various aspects of SL function and highlight distinct areas of agriculture that may benefit from the use of synthetic SL analogues, and we identify possible bottlenecks. Our objective is to identify where the contributions of science and stakeholders are still needed to achieve harnessing the benefits of SLs for a sustainable agriculture of the near future.