Work in the lab is also intently focussed on using knowledge garnered from A. thaliana to guide the study of germination in parasitic plants that cause severe agricultural problems. The hormone signalling networks controlling plant germination are malleable through evolutionary time, and this has allowed plants with different ecologies to tailor their germination responses to a range of environmental cues.

A fascinating example of this comes from parasitic plants within the Orobanchaceae family. The seeds of these parasitic plants have re-wired their germination signalling networks such that they will only germinate when they detect SLs that are exuded from host roots. This is an excellent adaptation for the parasite, as it ensures germination occurs only when resources required for its growth (i.e. a host plant) are available.

However, this creates an agricultural problem, as unlike common weeds, some root parasitic weeds of the Orobanchaceae family do severe and irreversible damage to their crop hosts before emerging above ground (i.e. before farmers know their crops are infested). Hence, understanding the signalling networks underpinning germination is seen as a crucial step in the fight against these parasites.

The research conducted in the Lumba lab is helping to uncover the mechanisms that allow these parasitic plants to co-ordinate their germination with host plants. In doing so we are providing the knowledge necessary to develop integrated and sustainable control strategies against these pernicious weeds.