Biostimulants enhance growth and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana and exhibit chemical priming action. (24th January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fleming, Thomas R.; Fleming, Colin C.; Levy, Camila C. B.; Repiso, Carlos; Hennequart, Franck; Nolasco, José B.; Liu, Fuquan
• Is Part Of: Annals of applied biology. Volume 174:Number 2(2019)
• Page Start: 153
• Page End: 165
• Publication Date: 2019-01-24
• Subjects: abiotic stress -- Arabidopsis thaliana -- biostimulant -- chemical priming -- drought -- gene expression -- stress response; Crop science -- Periodicals; Plants, Protection of -- Periodicals; Crops -- Ecology -- Periodicals; 630
• DOI: 10.1111/aab.12482
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-4746

Abstract

Abstract : The usage of biostimulants in agriculture has been steadily increasing in recent years, and their benefits have been recognised by growers. The growing interest from industry has led to a boom in the number of products on the market, many of which are derived from a diverse range of sources such as microbials, plant extracts, hydrolysed amino acids and algal extracts. However, there has been a slower recognition of the biostimulant sector by the scientific community. This has been a result of limited fundamental research into the modes of action of many biostimulant products and the speed at which new multi‐compound products have entered the market. In this study, we have developed a readily reproducible bioassay using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to test biostimulant efficacy under drought conditions and assess any chemical priming action. We have screened three products with biostimulant action derived from amino acids (Delfan Plus), Ascophyllum nodosum extract (Phylgreen) or potassium phosphite (Trafos K). Under a progressive soil drought condition, we measured changes in plant growth, biochemical content and gene expression levels. Our results demonstrated biostimulant‐mediated drought tolerance, with the products requiring different application timings for successful stress mitigation. The analysis of the biochemical and gene expression changes provided evidence of chemical priming action when plants were pre‐treated with biostimulants prior to the drought stress exposure. Abstract : This study has demonstrated the effects of several biostimulant products during drought stress. Using Arabidopsis bioassays to demonstrate physiological changes in growth phenotypes, biochemical content and gene expression, we have provided evidence of chemical priming action when plants were pre‐treated with biostimulants prior to stress exposure.