PJB-2017-812
POTENTIAL OF ULVA LACTUCA EXTRACT ON GROWTH, BIOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS, AND ACTIVITY OF PEP CARBOXYLASE OF ZEA MAYS SEEDLINGS
BADR REEM
Abstract
The present study aimed to investigate the biological effects of different concentrations Ulva lactuca aqueous extract (ULAE) applied as a foliar spray or incorporated in the growth medium, on certain growth parameters, mineral nutrients, photosynthetic pigments, protein profile, and phosphoenolpyruvate (PEPCase) activity in Zea mays seedlings. Algal presoaking has been proven to be an effective technique to improve the growth of maize seedlings. The seeds soaked with ULAE performed better than the controls. There was an increase in growth and biochemical parameters of the seedlings sprayed with 0.5% or 1% ULAE. The higher concentration (5%) was found to show inhibitory effect. Protein profiling showed the appearance of new protein bands with molecular weights 10, 24, 37, 75, and 80 kDa in all the treatments, while a protein band of 30 kDa disappeared in seedlings treated with 1 and 0.5% ULAE as well as seedlings grown in 25% H+ 27% U. Furthermore, treatments with ULAE as a foliar spray or supplemented in the growth medium differentially affected protein expression in Z. mays seedlings. New proteins were expressed in the treated plants as compared to control. The expression of new proteins could be due to the bioactive components present in ULAE that could potentially participate in the enhancement of growth. The PEP carboxylase activity in Z. mays seedlings grown in different combinations of Hoagland’s solution and ULAE was higher than that of seedlings sprayed with ULAE alone. There was a gradual decrease in enzyme activity in response to increasing ULAE applied as foliar spray and the least activity was recorded in seedlings sprayed with 5% ULAE
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