Carrageenan as an elicitor of induced secondary metabolites and its effects on various growth characters of chickpea and maize plants

The effects of polysaccharide elicitor k-carrageenan obtained from Hypnea musciformis, red algae on the production of Induced Secondary Metabolites, ISMs (the disease resistance compounds) and on various growth characters of chickpea and maize plants were studied. Experiments were conducted in the field of PCSIR Laboratories Complex Karachi during December 2008–April 2009 in randomized complete block design with three replications. Three elicitor treatments were used, a solid preparation in which the elicitor was mixed with soil (T2 1 mg/g) and applied around the seeds in the soil. The two other preparations were liquid, T1 and T3 at a concentration of 100 μg glc eq ml−1 and were applied around the sowing seeds and as a foliar spray on the plants, respectively. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that these treatments significantly enhanced all the growth characters of chickpea except T2 that gave the nonsignificant difference in the plant height. Maximum plant height (80.3 cm), number of pods plant−1 (76.2), number of branches plant−1 (25.0), number of leaves plant−1 (125.6), earlier flowering and high ISMs contents in leaves, stem and grains of chickpea were recorded in T1 treated chickpea plants. In maize plants only T1 and T3 treatments (with minor exceptions) had significant effects on few characters like plant height, stem diameter, number of leaves plant−1 and on ISMs contents in leaves while number of cobs plant−1 and flowering time were nonsignificantly affected by these treatments. These results suggested that k-carrageenan elicitor can be used as a potent plant protectant as well as growth promoting agent especially for chickpea plants.