Open Access

ARTICLE

Alleviation of Drought Stress in Wheat Using Exogenous Ulva prolifera Extract Produced by Enzymatic Hydrolysis

Feiyu Li¹, Siqi Zuo¹, Yongzhou Chi¹, Chunying Du¹, Zhaopeng Shen¹, Xihong Han^2,3, Xiaohui Wang^2,*, Peng Wang^1,*

1 College of Food Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China
2 Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Seaweed Fertilizers, Qingdao Brightmoon Seaweed Group Co. Ltd., Qingdao, 266400, China
3 State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Seaweed Substances, Qingdao, 266400, China

* Corresponding Authors: Xiaohui Wang. Email: ; Peng Wang. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Renewable materials for sustainable development)

Journal of Renewable Materials 2020, 8(11), 1519-1529. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2020.011453

Received 09 May 2020; Accepted 10 August 2020; Issue published 28 September 2020

Abstract

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that affect plant growth and reduce agricultural productivity. Use of algal extract as a biostimulant is gaining increased attention from researchers. This study aimed to investigate the potential of Ulva prolifera extract (UE) as a biostimulant when enzymatically extracted under conditions of water deficit. UE treatments (0.02%, 0.06%, and 0.1%) significantly improved the shoot length, root length, and dry weight of roots after 120 h of drought stress relative to that in treatment with the negative control. An increase in catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activity was also observed that resulted in improved antioxidant capacity. Application of 0.1% UE reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) content by 30.06% compared with that in the negative control. In addition, the soluble sugar and protein content in wheat treated with 0.1% UE was increased by 23.10% and 93.51%, respectively, resulting in adjustment of the osmotic pressure. Results suggest that UE could significantly enhance the drought tolerance of wheat. This study provides a basis for increasing the value of UE as a biostimulant.

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