Biological mode of action of a nitrophenolates-based biostimulant: case study

Abstract

The challenges facing modern plant production involve (i) responding to the demand for food and resources of plant origin from the world's rapidly growing population, (ii) coping with the negative impact of stressful conditions mainly due to anthropopressure, and (iii) meeting consumers' new requirements and preferences for food that is high in nutritive value, natural, and free from harmful chemical additives. Despite employing the most modern plant cultivation technologies and the progress that has been made in breeding programs, the genetically-determined crop potential is still far from being fully exploited. Consequently yield and quality are often reduced, making production less, both profitable and attractive. There is an increasing desire to reduce the chemical input in agriculture and there has been a change toward integrated plant management and sustainable, environmentally-friendly systems. Biostimulants are a category of relatively new products of diverse formulations that positively affect a plant's vital processes and whose impact is usually more evident under stressful conditions. In this paper, information is provided on the mode of action of a nitrophenolates-based biostimulant, Atonik, in model species and economically important crops grown under both field and controlled conditions in a growth chamber. The effects of Atonik on plant morphology, physiology, biochemistry (crops and model plant) and yield and yield parameters (crops) is demonstrated. Effects of other biostimulants on studied in this work processes/parameters are also presented in discussion.

Growth, Yielding and Healthiness of Grapevine Cultivars ‘Solaris’ and ‘Regent’ in Response to Fertilizers and Biostimulants

“…Conifer needle extract (Ausma) did not influence plant growth; it even reduced the number of rhizomes of the strawberry cultivar 'Zefyr' but increased the leaf growth and the number of rhizomes of the cultivar 'Kokinskaya Pozdnaya' (Laugale et al 2006). The effect of nitrophenols (Atonic, Asahi SL) on the quality and chemical composition was ambiguous and differed depending on the tested parameter and the plant cultivar in cucumber (Przybysz et al 2014) and eggplant fruit (Majkowska-Gadomska & Wierzbicka 2013). Ascophyllumnodosum extract (Goëmar BM 86) caused an increase in fruit weight in three out of five tested raspberry cultivars, and its effect on dry matter, extract content, simple sugar content, organic acid and anthocyanins was insignificant and depended largely on growing season and cultivar (Krok & Wieniarska 2008).…”

Leaf Development Monitoring and Early Detection of Water Deficiency by Low Field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Relaxation in Nicotiana tabacum Plants

“…Plant biostimulants contain substance(s) and/or micro-organisms whose function when applied to plants or the rhizosphere is to stimulate natural processes to enhance/benefit nutrient uptake, nutrient efficiency, tolerance to abiotic stress, and crop quality [13]. The use of foliar biostimulants in agriculture is relatively recent but few studies published to date have shown biostimulants to have a positive effect on yield in several crops, oilseed rape [14], cotton [15], bean [16], and carrot [17]. Using biostimulants makes it possible to reduce the amount of fertilizer thereby reducing the negative impact of the crop on the environment.…”

Effects of seaweed extract on yield and protein content of two common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivars

“…Natural bio-stimulants are preparations based on free amino acids, seaweed and fruit extract, effective microorganisms, humic substances and chitosan (Calvo et al, 2014;Kocira et al, 2015a;Kocira et al, 2015b). Synthetic plant stimulants include growth regulators, preparations containing phenolic compounds, inorganic salts, essential elements, and other substances (Przybysz et al, 2014;Kocira et al, 2015c;Kocira et al, 2015d).…”