Brassinosteroid Applications Enhance the Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses, Production and Quality of Strawberry Fruits

Abstract

Brassinosteriods (BRs) have increasingly been used to improve the yields and quality of various crops. In this work we studied the effect of two brassinosteroids, BB16 and EP24, on the growth promotion of Fragaria ananassa plants under normal conditions or exposed to water or saline stress. The influence of both BRs on the plant development and fruit quality was evaluated when cultivated in semi-hydroponic conditions. A marked growth-promoting effect was observed with both compounds when plants were cultivated under normal irrigation conditions and under saline and water stresses. BB16 and EP24 yielded plants with a higher dry weight, root length and surface, a higher number and area of leaves, a higher total weight of fruits per plant, and a higher percentage of fruits of commercial quality. Additionally, a higher content of chlorophyll, number of leaves, and increased dry weight was detected in plants treated with both BRs and exposed to water and saline stresses. Finally, when evaluating the production and quality of fruits obtained under semi-hydroponic conditions, we observed that the pre-harvest treatment with both compounds induced a higher fruit production and better quality of fruits. These results suggest the potential of these compounds to achieve a more sustainable management of strawberry cultivation.

Horticultural Plants Facing Stressful Conditions—Ways of Stress Mitigation

“…Polyhydroxy steroids phytohormones, such as brassinosteroids, can also be used to improve crop salt tolerance [6,7]. Furio et al [7] found that strawberry treated with brassinosteroids was characterized by a higher shoot and root weight as well as a higher total weight of fruits per plant.…”

“…Polyhydroxy steroids phytohormones, such as brassinosteroids, can also be used to improve crop salt tolerance [6,7]. Furio et al [7] found that strawberry treated with brassinosteroids was characterized by a higher shoot and root weight as well as a higher total weight of fruits per plant. Additionally, the quality of fruits obtained in salt stress conditions after brassinosteroids application was significantly higher than in non-treated individuals.…”

“…The presented research studies were conducted at the morphological, anatomical, physiological, and molecular levels. The authors described the impact of stress caused by salinity [1][2][3][4][5][6][7], high temperature [8,9], drought [9], spring frosts [10], copper [11], asbestos [12], and biotic stress [13]. Different plant species were studied, i.e., sunflower, zinnia, orchid, buttercup, tomato, snap bean, lettuce, jojoba, grapevine, strawberry, and apple.…”

“…Different plant species were studied, i.e., sunflower, zinnia, orchid, buttercup, tomato, snap bean, lettuce, jojoba, grapevine, strawberry, and apple. This Special Issue is dedicated to the following topics: (1) the application of exogenous compounds and bioinoculants to increase stress tolerance [1-7,9,13], (2) the improvement of fruits and vegetables quality and their nutritional value [2,7,10], and (3) the planting of ornamental plants in polluted areas [1,11,12]. Interestingly, Markulj Kulundžić et al [8] showed that daily changes in temperature and light intensity can induce unfavorable changes in the process of photosynthesis.…”

Phytovaccines, a New Paradigm for Crop Protection: Towards a Sustainable Agriculture

“…Two elicitors were obtained from strawberry leaves, the Fragarin [24] and the Ellagitanin HeT [25] and the elicitor Acremonium strictum Elicitor Subtilisin (AsES) that was purified from the avirulent fungus Acremonium strictum [26][27][28][29][30][31][32] . We have also investigated the two synthetic brassinosteroids (e.g., EP24 and BB16) with both plant defense and plant growth stimulation capacities [33][34][35] , and fungal-derived extracts, which are a complex mixture of elicitors-the latter may be comparable those vaccines made with whole inactivated pathogens [36,37] . Just to mention, we have also induced innate defenses in strawberry plants through a soft mechanical stimulus [38] , similar to what was previously observed by Benikhlef et al [39] in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.…”