Regulation of Phytohormone Biosynthesis and Accumulation in Arabidopsis Following Treatment with Commercial Extract from the Marine Macroalga Ascophyllum nodosum

Seaweeds and their extracts have been used for centuries in agriculture to improve plant growth and impart stress tolerance. There has been historical evidence that phytohormones present in seaweeds lead to these effects, but questions of this mode of action have always been raised. By quantifying phytohormones in seaweed extracts coupled with the use of phytohormone biosynthetic and insensitive mutants, we conclude that the phytohormone levels present within the extracts are insufficient to cause significant effects in plants when extracts are applied at recommended rates. However, components within seaweed extracts may modulate innate pathways for the biosynthesis of phytohormones in plants. Phytohormone profiles of plant tissue extracts were analyzed following root application of a commercial seaweed extract produced from Ascophyllum nodosum (ANE) to in vitro-grown Arabidopsis plants. We found an increase in total concentration of cytokinins (CKs), in particular, of trans-zeatin-type CKs, 24 and 96 h after ANE application, with an increase in cis-zeatin-type CKs observed at 144 h. Concomitantly, increases in abscisic acid (ABA) and ABA catabolite levels were observed whereas auxin levels were reduced. Additionally, the profile of transcripts revealed that CK biosynthetic genes were upregulated, whereas the CK catabolic genes were repressed at 24 and 96 h following ANE application. Not surprisingly, the transcripts of ABA biosynthetic genes were increased whereas the auxin biosynthetic genes were repressed. These corroborated findings are the first to help explain the underlying physiological benefits derived from the application of ANE to plants.