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Eckol - a new plant growth stimulant from the brown seaweed Ecklonia maxima

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Abstract

The seaweed concentrate Kelpak® made from the brown kelp Ecklonia maxima is used worldwide as a biostimulant for a number of agricultural crops. Plant growth regulators such as auxins, cytokinins, polyamines, gibberellins, abscisic acid, and brassinosteroids were identified from E. maxima and Kelpak®. In this study, we investigated the plant growth stimulating effects of two phlorotannins, i.e., phloroglucinol and eckol that were recently isolated from E. maxima. The activity of isolated eckol was compared with Kelpak® and commercially available phloroglucinol and the auxin indole-3-butyric acid (IBA). The isolated eckol from E. maxima stimulated maize growth in terms of shoot and root elongation and number of seminal roots and exhibited improvement in the biochemical activities of α-amylase compared to Kelpak®, phloroglucinol, and IBA. Furthermore, eckol showed auxin-like activity in the mung bean root assay at 10−5 M with an increased number of roots, shoot elongation, and seedling weight. Eckol can potentially play a significant role in increasing agricultural productivity.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the National Research Foundation and the University of KwaZulu-Natal for the financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development, School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa

    Kannan R. R. Rengasamy, Manoj G. Kulkarni, Wendy A. Stirk & Johannes Van Staden

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  1. Kannan R. R. Rengasamy
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  2. Manoj G. Kulkarni
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  3. Wendy A. Stirk
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  4. Johannes Van Staden
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Correspondence to Johannes Van Staden.

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Rengasamy, K.R.R., Kulkarni, M.G., Stirk, W.A. et al. Eckol - a new plant growth stimulant from the brown seaweed Ecklonia maxima . J Appl Phycol 27, 581–587 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-014-0337-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-014-0337-z

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