Cyanobacterial Arthrospira (Spirulina platensis) as safener against harmful effects of fusilade herbicide on faba bean plant

Treatment of faba bean plant by fusilade herbicide (post-emergence herbicide) caused reduction in all measured growth parameters (plant height, root and shoot length, number of leaves/plant, fresh and dry weight of root and shoot and leaf area) and yield parameters (number of pods/plant, number of seeds/pod, number of seeds/plant and weight of 100 seeds). Priming of faba bean seeds in Arthrospira (Spirulina platensis) suspension before cultivation ameliorated the adverse effects of the herbicide on the plant. Algal suspension treatment caused enhancement in protein and amino acid levels of root and shoot, and ameliorated also the harmful effects of the herbicide on the antioxidant enzymes and reduced the lipid peroxidation and proline content of the plant. The treatment caused marked changes in the profile of amino acids and their concentrations in leaves. The most changes were observed in leucine, isoleucine, valine, serine, phenylalanine, methionine and histidine. The concentrations of these amino acids were reduced in response to herbicide application, while increased in response to algal treatment. According to these results, priming of seeds in the Arthrospira platensis suspension induced the biosynthesis of some amino acids which could protect or act as a safener against the adverse effects of the herbicide on the plant.