Biostimulant red seaweed (Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui) extracts spray improves yield and drought tolerance in soybean

Md Abdul Mannan; Amir Yasmin; Umakanta Sarker; Nasimul Bari; Dipanjoli Baral Dola; Hirokazu Higuchi; Sezai Ercisli; Daoud Ali; Saud Alarifi

doi:10.7717/peerj.15588

Biostimulant red seaweed (Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui) extracts spray improves yield and drought tolerance in soybean

PeerJ. 2023 Jun 23:11:e15588. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15588. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Md Abdul Mannan¹, Amir Yasmin¹, Umakanta Sarker², Nasimul Bari¹, Dipanjoli Baral Dola¹, Hirokazu Higuchi³, Sezai Ercisli⁴, Daoud Ali⁵, Saud Alarifi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agronomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
² Genetics and Plant breeding, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
³ Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
⁴ Department of Horticulture, Ataturk University, Erzurum, Turkey.
⁵ Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

Drought has a deleterious impact on the growth, physiology, and yield of various plants, including soybean. Seaweed extracts are rich in various bioactive compounds, including antioxidants, and can be used as biostimulants for improving yield and alleviating the adverse effect of drought stress. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of soybean growth and yield with different concentrations (0.0%, 5.0%, and 10.0% v/v) of water extracts of the red seaweed Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui under well-watered (80% of field capacity (FC) and drought (40% of FC)) conditions. Drought stress decreased soybean grain yield by 45.58% compared to well-watered circumstances but increased the water saturation deficit by 37.87%. It also decreased leaf water, chlorophyll content, plant height, and the fresh weight of the leaf, stem, and petiole. Drought stress decreased soybean grain yield by 45.58% compared to well-watered circumstances but increased the water saturation deficit by 37.87%. It also decreased leaf water, chlorophyll content, plant height, and the fresh weight of the leaf, stem, and petiole. Under both drought and well-watered situations, foliar application of seaweed extracts dramatically improved soybean growth and production. Under drought and well-watered situations, 10.0% seaweed extract increased grain yield by 54.87% and 23.97%, respectively in comparison to untreated plants. The results of this study suggest that red seaweed extracts from Gracilaria tenuistipitata var. liui may be used as a biostimulant to improve soybean yield and drought tolerance in the presence of insufficient water. However, the actual mechanisms behind these improvements need to be further investigated in field conditions.

Keywords: Biostimulant; Foliar application; Gracilaria tenuistipitata; Seaweed extract; Soybean; Stress tolerance; Yield.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chlorophyll
Drought Resistance
Glycine max
Gracilaria*
Rhodophyta*
Seaweed*
Water

Substances

Chlorophyll
Water

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP2023R27), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.