Alleviate the Drought Stress on Triticum aestivum L. Using the Algal Extracts of Sargassum latifolium and Corallina elongate Versus the Commercial Algal Products

Khadiga Alharbi; Mohamed A Amin; Mohamed A Ismail; Mariam T S Ibrahim; Saad El-Din Hassan; Amr Fouda; Ahmed M Eid; Hanan A Said

doi:10.3390/life12111757

Alleviate the Drought Stress on Triticum aestivum L. Using the Algal Extracts of Sargassum latifolium and Corallina elongate Versus the Commercial Algal Products

Life (Basel). 2022 Nov 1;12(11):1757. doi: 10.3390/life12111757.

Authors

Khadiga Alharbi¹, Mohamed A Amin², Mohamed A Ismail², Mariam T S Ibrahim³, Saad El-Din Hassan², Amr Fouda², Ahmed M Eid², Hanan A Said⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
² Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University, Nasr City 11884, Egypt.
³ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
⁴ Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Fayoum University, Fayoum 63514, Egypt.

Abstract

Herein, two seaweed extracts (Sargassum latifolium and Corallina elongate), and two commercial seaweed products (Canada power and Oligo-X) with a concentration of 5% were used to alleviate the drought stress on wheat plants. The extract of C. elongate had the highest capacity to ameliorate the deleterious effects of water scarcity followed by S. latifolium and the commercial products. The drought stress reduced wheat shoots length and the contents of pigments (chlorophyll and carotenoids), carbohydrates, and proteins. While the highest increment in the total carbohydrates and protein contents of the wheat shoot after two stages, 37-and 67-days-old, were noted in drought-stressed plants treated with C. elongate extract with values of (34.6% and 22.8%) and (51.9% and 39.5%), respectively, compared to unstressed plants. Decreasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, peroxidase, superoxidase dismutase, and polyphenol oxidase in drought-stressed plants treated with algal extracts indicated amelioration of the response actions. Analysis of phytohormones in wheat plants exhibited increasing GA3 and IAA contents with percentages of (20.3-13.8%) and (72.7-25%), respectively. Interestingly, all morphological and metabolic characteristics of yield were improved due to the algal treatments compared with untreated drought-stressed plants. Overall, the algal extracts, especially those from seaweed of C. elongate, could represent a sustainable candidate to overcome the damage effects of water deficiency in the wheat plant.

Keywords: abiotic stress; algal extract; phytohormone; water deficit; wheat plant.

Grants and funding

The authors extend their appreciation to the Al-Azhar University for the funding, great cooperation, and supporting in the current study. Also, we our thanks to Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University for funding this work through the Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2022R188), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.