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Multiple Pathways for the Enhancement of Wheat Growth by Chlorella vulgaris

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Abstract

Microalgae are an effective soil biostimulant. However, pathways for the enhancement of plant growth are still unclear. In this study, the effects of Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) on wheat growth promotion and its direct and indirect mechanisms were investigated under hydroponic experiment condition in pots in a constant temperature indoor laboratory. Living C. vulgaris showed significant promoting effect on wheat growth in terms of root length (52.41%), shoot length (44.44%) and dry weight (13.86%). Besides the function of supplying inorganic nutrient, the organic molecules in the culture supernatant and cell extract of C. vulgaris promoted wheat growth directly through interaction with the plant roots. The culture supernatant fraction increased root length, shoot length and dry weight of wheat by 27.59%. 11.84%, 16.53%, respectively. The cell extract fraction had a larger effect with the increase in root length, shoot length and dry weight by 33.10%, 20.86% and 27.10%, respectively. Changes in the bacterial community in the rhizosphere under co-culturing of bacteria and microalgae was also investigated to determine indirect mechanisms on plant growth promotion. The results showed living C. vulgaris and rhizosphere bacteria had a synergistic interaction. Compared with initial rhizosphere bacterial community at genus level, the number of beneficial rhizosphere bacteria such as Sphingobacterium, Comamonas, Acetobacter and Mucilaginibacter significantly increased when co-cultured with the supernatant of C. vulgaris. In conclusion, considering the presence of bacteria in the soil environment, it is important to maintain the activity of microalgal cells to release extracellular polymer substances sustainably to promote plant growth.

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Funding

This study was supported by China National Funds For Distinguished Young Scientists (Grant numbers- 51925803), and Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers- 52000122; 51878388).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science & Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China

    Wang Sheng-Nan, Ge Shu-Han, Zhuang Lin-Lan & Zhang Jian

  2. College of Safety and Environmental Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Zhang Jian

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  1. Wang Sheng-Nan
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  2. Ge Shu-Han
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S-NW: formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft. S-HG: writing—review & editing. L-LZ: conceptualization, methodology, funding acquisition, writing—review & editing. JZ: funding acquisition, writing—review & editing

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Correspondence to Zhuang Lin-Lan or Zhang Jian.

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Wang, SN., Ge, SH., Zhuang, LL. et al. Multiple Pathways for the Enhancement of Wheat Growth by Chlorella vulgaris. J Plant Growth Regul 43, 550–562 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-023-11113-w

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