Alleviation of Drought Stress in Wheat Using Exogenous Ulva prolifera Extract Produced by Enzymatic Hydrolysis

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.

Hypolipidemic effect of chromium-modified enzymatic product of sulfated rhamnose polysaccharide from Enteromorpha prolifera in type 2 diabetic mice

Sulfated rhamnose polysaccharide(SRP)derived from Enteromorpha prolifera is a metal-ion chelating agent that could potentially be used to treat diabetes.The aim of our study was to determine the effect of a variant of SRP on DIABETES.First,we synthesized and characterized SRPE-3 chromium(III)[SRPE-3-Cr(III)]complex using an enzymatic method.The maximum chelation rate was 18.2%under optimal chelating conditions of pH 6.0,time 4 h,and temperature 60°C.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results showed important sites for Cr(III)-binding were O–H and C=O groups.We then studied the hypolipidemic effects of SRPE-3-Cr(III)on type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)induced by a high-fat,high-sucrose diet(HFSD).Decreased blood glucose content,body fat ratio,serum TG,TC,LDL-C,and increased serum HDL-C were observed after treatment with SRPE-3-Cr(III).In addition,SRPE-3-Cr(III)significantly reduced leptin,resistin,and TNF-αlevels,and increased adiponectin contents relative to T2DM.Histopathology results also showed that SRPE-3-Cr(III)could alleviate the HFSD-lesioned tissues.SRPE-3-Cr(III)also improved lipid metabolism via a reduction in aspartate aminotransferase,alanine aminotransferase,fatty acid synthase,and acetyl-CoA carboxylase activities in the liver.SRPE-3-Cr(III)at low doses exhibited better lipid-lowering activities,hence,could be considered to be a novel compound to treat hyperlipidemia and also act as an anti-diabetic agent.