DWARF 53 acts as a repressor of strigolactone signalling in rice

Strigolactones (SLs), key regulators of plant growth, are believed to mediate their responses through a proposed receptor (D14) that interacts with an F-box protein (D3) to form a D14–SCFD3 protein complex; here the perception of SLs by the D14–SCFD3 complex and the control of gene expression are linked by the finding that DWARF 53, a repressor protein of SL signalling, interacts with the D14–SCFD3 complex and is ubiquitinated and degraded in a SL-dependent manner.