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Assessment of the effectiveness of SuperFifty® Prime in preventing cold stress in pepper (Capsicum annuum cv. Kurtovska Kapija)
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Date
2024
Authors
Mahony, Cian
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
Published Version
Abstract
The occurrence of abiotic stress is becoming increasingly common as climate change progresses, and this poses a major challenge for agriculture. Plant Biostimulants are a new form of abiotic stress management which induces the plants natural defence systems in a process known as “molecular priming”. SuperFifty® Prime is a highly concentrated A. nodosum extract (500g/L) which has been proven to mitigate the detrimental effects of different abiotic stressors. Peppers were chosen for this experiment (Capsicum annuum) as they are a commercially important crop with an extremely low tolerance to cold conditions. In this project we aimed to investigate how a priming and recovery application of SuperFifty® Prime on a cold sensitive crop helped avoid and mitigate the damage caused by cold and uncover the molecular mechanisms behind this protection.
At the physiological level, the results showed that two applications of SuperFifty® Prime improved plant performance as demonstrated by monitoring the following parameters: fresh weight, electrolyte leakage, chlorophyll content, flavonoid content and the occurrence of necrotic tissue. The application of SuperFifty® Prime also improved plant recovery after the cold stress event. At final harvest, there was no significant difference in yield parameters between Primed Cold-Treated and Unprimed Untreated plants. At the molecular level, five genes of interest were selected. Three of these genes; ICE 1, CBF 1 and COR 314, are part of most studied cold signalling pathway known as the ICE-CBF-COR transcriptional cascade. The two other selected genes; PAL 1 and CHS 1, are important for flavonoid production. A similar pattern of expression was observed for all five genes with a clear difference between Primed and Unprimed Cold-Treated plants. Expression of ICE 1 and COR 314 are also upregulated in Primed Untreated plants, despite these plants not experiencing cold stress inducing conditions. Based on the evidence from this experiment, two applications of SuperFifty® Prime improved yield and productivity in Primed Cold- Treated plants and has the potential to improve grower incomes in areas affected by cold stress.
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Keywords
Biostimulants , Cold Stress
Citation
Mahony, C. 2024. Assessment of the effectiveness of SuperFifty® Prime in preventing cold stress in pepper (Capsicum annuum cv. Kurtovska Kapija). MRes Thesis, University College Cork.