Innovative Bio-based Products for Management of Biotic and Abiotic Stress in Wheat Plants

Abstract

Wheat is the most important cereal crop, a staple food for more than one third of world population. Recently, there is increased interest in naturally produced active compounds as alternatives of fungicide and improve plant stress. Blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) secondary metabolites have a diverse antagonistic activity that lead to disintegration of microbial growth and improve plant resistant against stress. So, this study was conducted to evaluate the antifungal activities of Oscillatoria agardhii in retarding the growth of wheat pathogenic fungal species and improve resistance to biotic and abiotic stress under stress conditions in compare to the natural environment. Based on zone of inhibition formation and Minimal Inhibitory Concentrations (MIC), it was concluded that the extracts of O.agardhii had significant antifungal and antimicrobial efficacy. An experiment was conducted under natural conditions  in a farmer’s field in middle of Sinai which saline soil and compared in a natural farm with a normal soil  to study the effective use of O. agardhii, resulted in a significantly greater decrease in the disease incidence of powdery mildew, leaf rust and leaf spots, increased  of total soluble protein, proline, soluble carbohydrates, Chlorophyll, carotenoids NPK, K/N ratio, IAA, peroxidase and chitinase  in wheat as well as plant growth and yield. The significant increase in grain yield of wheat was observed. Cyanobacteria can be excellent biocontrol sources of plant pathogenic fungi as they can be easily cultured, less expensive compared to synthetic fungicides and ecofriendly, rather they can also promote plant growth. The investigation, certainly points out the necessity of exploring cyanobacterial strains as potentially outstanding sources of antifungal drugs, Biostimulants and anti-stress that improve plant resistance to abiotic stress.