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Humic-Like Water-Soluble Lignins from Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.) Display Hormone-Like Activity on Plant Growth

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Abstract

Water-soluble humic-like lignins from energy crops had been previously shown to significantly improve plant development due to their chemical composition and supramolecular arrangement. Here, humic-like lignins isolated from Giant Reed were tested in several bioassays to verify whether the biostimulation was due to a hormone-mimic (auxin- and gibberellin-like) activity. The water-soluble lignins were applied on tomato seeds harboured with the auxin reporter DR5::GUS (β-glucuronidase), to visualize the auxin responses in roots. Moreover, auxin- or gibberellin (GA)-mimetic activities were assessed by the Audus test on watercress and chicory seeds, respectively, with increasing concentrations of water-soluble lignin. The latter showed a significant GA-like effect, whereas it did not produce auxin-like activity at any assayed concentration. The water-soluble lignins may either directly function as GA on plant and seed development or positively perturb GA-related hormonal balances, thereby influencing GA-mediated physiological mechanisms. These findings suggest that humic-like residual lignins from energy crops may be useful in intensified sustainable agriculture as seed germination enhancers and biostimulants of plant growth.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially funded by the MIUR project PON01_01966/2 “ENERBIOCHEM”. DS is grateful to the International Humic Substances Society (IHSS) for a short-term fellowship at NUDIBA where part of the experimental work was conducted.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Interdipartimentale di Ricerca sulla Risonanza Magnetica Nucleare per l’Ambiente, l’Agro-Alimentare ed i Nuovi Materiali (CERMANU), Via Università 100, 80055, Portici, Italy

    Davide Savy, Giovanni Vinci, Vincenza Cozzolino & Alessandro Piccolo

  2. Núcleo de Desenvolvimento de Insumos Biológicos para a Agricultura (NUDIBA), Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goitacazes, Brazil

    Luciano Canellas

  3. Dipartimento di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Portici, Italy

    Vincenza Cozzolino & Alessandro Piccolo

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  1. Davide Savy
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  2. Luciano Canellas
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  3. Giovanni Vinci
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  4. Vincenza Cozzolino
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  5. Alessandro Piccolo
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Correspondence to Davide Savy.

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Savy, D., Canellas, L., Vinci, G. et al. Humic-Like Water-Soluble Lignins from Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.) Display Hormone-Like Activity on Plant Growth. J Plant Growth Regul 36, 995–1001 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-017-9696-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-017-9696-4

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