Seed germination is tightly regulated so that it only occurs in optimal environmental conditions; for root parasitic plants, this is the presence of a potential host plant revealed by strigolactone exudates. New research shows that, unexpectedly, this response to strigolactone bypasses the core gibberellin-dependent pathway for germination. Fig. 1: The interplay of multiple pathways regulating germination. References 1. Bunsick, M. et al. Nat. Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-020-0653-z (2020). 2.
