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Seaweed Extracts as Biostimulants of Plant Growth and Development

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Abstract

Marine algal seaweed species are often regarded as an underutilized bioresource, many have been used as a source of food, industrial raw materials, and in therapeutic and botanical applications for centuries. Moreover, seaweed and seaweed-derived products have been widely used as amendments in crop production systems due to the presence of a number of plant growth-stimulating compounds. However, the biostimulatory potential of many of these products has not been fully exploited due to the lack of scientific data on growth factors present in seaweeds and their mode of action in affecting plant growth. This article provides a comprehensive review of the effect of various seaweed species and seaweed products on plant growth and development with an emphasis on the use of this renewable bioresource in sustainable agricultural systems.

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  1. Wajahatullah Khan

    Present address: Department of Biochemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Animal Sciences, Nova Scotia Agricultural College, P.O. Box 550, 58 River Road, Truro, NS, B2N 5E3, Canada

    Wajahatullah Khan, Usha P. Rayirath, Sowmyalakshmi Subramanian, Mundaya N. Jithesh, Prasanth Rayorath & Balakrishan Prithiviraj

  2. Atlantic Food and Horticulture Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 32 Main Street, Kentville, NS, B4N 1J5, Canada

    D. Mark Hodges

  3. Acadian Seaplants Limited, 30 Brown Avenue, Dartmouth, NS, B3B 1X8, Canada

    Alan T. Critchley, James S. Craigie & Jeff Norrie

  4. Institute for Marine Biosciences, National Research Council of Canada, 1411 Oxford Street, Halifax, NS, B3H 3Z1, Canada

    James S. Craigie

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  1. Wajahatullah Khan
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Correspondence to Balakrishan Prithiviraj.

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Khan, W., Rayirath, U.P., Subramanian, S. et al. Seaweed Extracts as Biostimulants of Plant Growth and Development. J Plant Growth Regul 28, 386–399 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-009-9103-x

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