Plants produce numerous secondary metabolites, many of which have a role in their development. The presence of such compounds in the rhizosphere led other organisms in the course of evolution to recognize these root exudates as signals for the presence of a host plant. Strigolactones (SLs) were recently identified as a new plant hormone. However, they were first identified, more than 40 years ago, as germination stimulants of the parasitic plants Striga and Orobanche, and later as stimulants of hyphal branching of the symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In this chapter, we focus on SLs in root exudates as a signal in these parasitic and symbiotic interactions. The possible evolution of the biological role(s) of SLs, their essentialness to, and their involvement in determining host recognition by parasitic plants and symbiotic fungi will be discussed.