TY - EJOU AU - Li, Feiyu AU - Zuo, Siqi AU - Chi, Yongzhou AU - Du, Chunying AU - Shen, Zhaopeng AU - Han, Xihong AU - Wang, Xiaohui AU - Wang, Peng TI - Alleviation of Drought Stress in Wheat Using Exogenous Ulva prolifera Extract Produced by Enzymatic Hydrolysis T2 - Journal of Renewable Materials PY - 2020 VL - 8 IS - 11 SN - 2164-6341 AB - Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses that affect plant growth and reduce agricultural productivity. Use of algal extract as a biostimulant is gaining increased attention from researchers. This study aimed to investigate the potential of Ulva prolifera extract (UE) as a biostimulant when enzymatically extracted under conditions of water deficit. UE treatments (0.02%, 0.06%, and 0.1%) significantly improved the shoot length, root length, and dry weight of roots after 120 h of drought stress relative to that in treatment with the negative control. An increase in catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POD) activity was also observed that resulted in improved antioxidant capacity. Application of 0.1% UE reduced the malondialdehyde (MDA) content by 30.06% compared with that in the negative control. In addition, the soluble sugar and protein content in wheat treated with 0.1% UE was increased by 23.10% and 93.51%, respectively, resulting in adjustment of the osmotic pressure. Results suggest that UE could significantly enhance the drought tolerance of wheat. This study provides a basis for increasing the value of UE as a biostimulant. KW - Ulva prolifera extract; enzymatic hydrolysis; antioxidant capacity; osmoprotectants; drought tolerance DO - 10.32604/jrm.2020.011453