Karrikinolide (KAR1) was discovered by Ghisalberti, Flematti and colleagues, University of Western Australia in 2009.
Karrikinolide, found in smoke water extracts, acts as a key germination trigger for many species from fire-prone, Mediterranean climates, but is also active in plants from temperate regions. Karrikinolide enhances expression of the gibberellic acid biosynthetic genes, GA3ox1 and GA3ox2, during seed imbibition. Karrikinolide stimulation of Arabidopsis germination is lightdependent and reversible by far-red exposure, although limited induction of GA3ox1 still occurs in the dark.