New generation plant growth regulators in fruit crops

1. 1

2. New generation
plant growth regulators in
fruit crops
2

3. Outline
 Plant growth regulators
 New generation plant growth regulators
 Brassinosteroids
 Salicylic acid
 Jasmonates
 Peptides
 Polyamines
 Summary
 Conclusion
Future line of work 3

4. Plant growth regulators
• Natural or synthetic organic compounds
• Active at low concentrations (1-10 ppm)
• Promote, inhibit or modify growth and
development in plants
4

5. Classical plant growth regulators
1. Auxins
2. Gibberellins
3. Cytokinins
4. Ethylene
5. Abscissic Acid (ABA)
5

6. New
generation
plant growth
regulators
Brassinosteroids
Salicylic acid
Peptides
Polyamines
Jasmonates
6

7. Brassinosteroids
7
5α-cholestane

8. Function
• Promotion of cell expansion and cell elongation
• Role in cell division and cell wall regeneration
• Promotion of vascular differentiation
• Pollen elongation for pollen tube formation
• Protect plants from chilling and drought stress
8

9. Effect of brassinosteroids in fruit crops
• Rooting in grape cuttings- homo-brassinolide (0.05 ppm)
(Kaplan and Gokbayrak, 2012)
• Epi-brassinolide (0.4 ppm)- dwarfing of autotetraploid apple
plants in tissue culture (Ma et al., 2016)
Effect on propagation
9

10. Effect of brassinosteroids on strawberry
growth and yield
Treatment Leaf
blade
Petiole Crown Root No. of
flowers/
plant
Marketa
ble**
fruits (g)
/ plant
Total
fruits
(g)/
plant
Dry weight (g)/ plant
Control 3.49 0.59 2.34 3.72 31.3 58.7 112.6
TS 303
0.01 ppm
4.55 1.03 3.16 5.43 45.4 82.3 131.4
10
*Planting of crop- May 8
Spraying- 1 July, 1 Aug, 1 Sept, 1 Oct and 7 Nov
**Fruit > 6g
(Pipattanawong et al., 1996)

11. Effect on fruit set
• Navel orange - brassinolide (0.01 ppm) at anthesis (Sugiyama
and Kuraishi, 1989)
• Grape & persimmon - TS 303 (0.01ppm) 7 days before
blooming (Watanabe et al., 1997)
11

12. Effect on parthenocarpic fruit formation
in custard apple
Treatment Fruit set
(%)
Fruit
retention
(%)
Yield
(kg/ tree)
Fruit
weight
(g)
Pulp
weight
(g)
Number of
seed/ fruit
Hand
pollination
78.33 82.67 23.80 232.91 161.16 64.00
GA3
(1500 ppm)
79.33 82.33 24.58 231.25 172.80 2.00
Brassinolide
(1 ppm)
79.33 79.00 25.31 239.56 174.60 5.00
12
(Mostafa and Kotb 2018)
Treatment- at anthesis

13. Crop Compound Conc.
(ppm)
Time of application Reference
Orange Brassinolide 0.04 At flowering (Wang et al., 2004)
Navel orange Brassinolide 0.01 At flowering (Sugiyama and
Kuraishi, 1989)
Sweet cherry Brassinolide 0.25 Swollen bud stage (Roghabadi and
Pakkish, 2014)
Yellow
passionfruit
Biobrass- 16 1.00 3 sprays at 1 week
interval after first
flowering
(Gomes et al.,
2006)
Effect on yield of fruit crops
13

14. Effect on yield characters of banana
Treatment Bunch length
(cm)
Finger length
(cm)
Finger weight
(cm)
Bunch weight
(kg)
Yield
(t/ha)
GA3
(100 ppm)
92.94 23.72 208.58 29.37 101.98
NAA
(100 ppm)
81.46 21.67 174.07 25.37 87.72
Ethephon
(200 ppm)
76.23 19.25 145.87 25.21 87.52
Homo-brassinolide
(2 ppm)
96.28 24.50 225.65 32.96 114.46
Control 73.84 18.61 131.73 24.26 84.24
14
Treatment- At complete opening of inflorescence
& 20 days after opening (Rajni et al., 2017)

15. Effect on fruit ripening
Crop Compound Concentration Time of
application
Reference
Mango Epi-brassinolide 0.045-0.060 ppm Post-harvest (Zaharah and
Singh, 2010)
Strawberry Epi-brassinolide 200 mM Big green
stage
(Chai et al.,
2013)
Grape Epi-brassinolide 0.2 ppm Berry
development
(Symons et al.,
2006)
Cherry Homo-brassinolide 0.4 ppm Beginning of
fruit colour
change
(Mandava and
Wang, 2016)
15

16. Effect on fruit quality
• 24-Epi-brassinolide (0.4 ppm) - pea sized berry stage- enhance
the concentrations of phenolics and anthocyanin in grapes (Xu
et al., 2015)
• Brassinolide (0.4 ppm) at onset of veraison - enhance total
anthocyanin content in grapes (Luan et al., 2016)
16

17. Control of physiological disorders
Crop Disorder Compound Concentration Time of
application
Reference
Litchi Fruit cracking Brassinolid 1.00 ppm Before
anthesis
(Peng et al.,
2004)
Orange Leaf and fruit
drop
Brassinolid 0.01 ppm Flowering
period
(Sugiyama and
Kuraishi, 1989)
Philippine
lemon
Fruit drop Brassinolid 0.21 µM After
anthesis
(Iwahori et al.,
1990)
Grape Berry drop 22S, 23S-
homo-
brassinolide
0.001 ppm At anthesis (Isci and
Gokbayrak,
2015)
17

18. Salicylic acid
• 2-hydroxybenzoic acid
• Colorless crystalline organic acid
• First isolated from extract of white willow
bark
• Derived from the metabolism of salicin
18

19. Function
• Roles in plant growth and development, photosynthesis,
transpiration, ion uptake and transport
• Can reverse effects of ABA
• Induces specific changes in leaf anatomy and chloroplast
structure
• Involved in endogenous signaling, mediating in plant defense
against pathogens
19

20. Effect of salicylic acid in fruit crops
• Strawberry spray with 3 mM of salicylic acid- at flowering, 2 week
later (Mohamed et al., 2018)
• Pomegranate- Salicylic acid (5- 10 mM) during fruit
development
- Methyl salicylate (1 mM) (García-Pastor et al.,
2020)
Increases fruit yield and quality
20

21. Effect of pre-harvest application of salicylic acid on
plant growth parameters and yield of strawberry cv.
Chandler
Treatments Plant height
(cm)
Total leaf
area
(cm2)
Number of
runners
Fruit set
(%)
Fruit yield
(g/ plant)
Control 7.13 86.51 1.00 71.02 170.50
SA 2 mM 9.36 194.98 2.33 80.19 271.46
SA 4 mM 10.65 215.96 3.00 82.15 282.06
SA 6 mM 8.45 124.00 1.33 72.21 195.00
21
(Kumar and Kaur, 2019)
Spraying at-
Flowering stage
Fruit setting
30, 20 and 10 days before fruit harvest

22. Effect of salicylic acid in banana ripening
• - Control
• - 0.5 mM salicylic acid
• - 1.0 mM salicylic acid
• Treatment on harvested
fingers
• Delay ripening
22
Rate
of
respiration
(ml/
h/
kg)
Days
(Srivastava et al., 2000)

23. Effect on fruit quality improvement
Crop Compound Treatment
time
Effect Reference
Grapes Salicylic acid
0.2mM
Veraison
stage
Increase anthocyanin
content
(Oraei et al.,
2019)
Orange Methyl salicylate
0.1 mM
Post harvest Chilling tolerance,
increase anthocyanin
(Habibi et al.,
2020)
Mango Salicylic acid
2 mM
Post harvest Chilling tolerance,
increase TSS
(Ding et al.,
2007)
Kiwi fruit Acetyl salicylate
1 mM
Post harvest Increase TSS (Zhang et al.,
2003)
Pomegranate Salicylic acid
2 mM
Post harvest Reduce chilling injury,
increase TSS, acidity
(Sayyari et al.,
2009)
23

24. Effect on shelf life of mangosteen at room
temperature
24
(Mathew, 2013)

25. Effect on shelf life of mangosteen at 15⁰C
25
(Mathew, 2013)

26. Jasmonates
• Derivative of oxygenated fatty acids
• Biosynthesized from linolenic acid in chloroplast
membranes
• First isolated from jasmine oil (Jasminum
grandiflorum)
• Jasmonic acid (JA), methyl jasmonate(MeJA), n-
propyl dihydro-jasmonate (PDJ)
26

27. Functions
• Induce tuberization
• Help in plant defense
• Inhibit growth
• Inhibit germination
• Promote senescence
• Promote pigmentation
27

28. Effect of jasmonates in fruit crops
• 0.5 µM Jasmonic acid- More nodes and greater internodal
length on Vitis vinifera L. stems in tissue culture (Ravnikar et al.,
1990)
• Methyl jasmonates (10 mM) to 5 year old peach trees after one
month of blooming reduce shoot growth (Janoudi and Flore,
2003)
In vegetative growth
28

29. Resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense
race 4 in banana
 Cultivar- Williams 8818
 3- 4 leaf stage
• Methyl jasmonate (1.5 mM) (3 consecutive days)
• Inoculation with FocR4
 Control- Water spray
29
(Sun et al., 2013)

30. Contd…
30

31. Contd…
31
DI- Disease
incidence
DS- Disease
severity

32. Methyl jasmonates to control post harvest
fungal decay
Crop Concentration
(mM)
Application
method
Fungal species Reference
Strawberry 0.10 Vapor Epiphyas postvittana (Ayala-Zavala et al.,
2005)
Grapevine
5.00 Spray Erysiphe necator (Belhadj et al.,
2006)
0.01 Vapor Botrytis cinerea (Jiang et al., 2015)
Papaya 0.01 Vapor Colletotrichum
gloeosporioides
(GonZalez- Aguilar
et al., 2003)
Mandarins 0.10 Dip Penicillium digitatum (Guo et al., 2014)
32

33. Contd…
Crop Doses
(mM)
Application
method
Fungal species Reference
Peach 0.001 Vapor Botrytis cinerea (Jin et al., 2009)
Grape fruit 0.01 Dipping Penicillium digitatum (Droby et al.,
1999)
Pineapple 0.1 Vapor Yeast and mold (Martínez-Ferrer
and Harper, 2005)
Sweet cherry 0.2 Spray Monilinia fructicola (Yao and Tian,
2005)
Loquat 0.01 vapor Colletotrichum acutatum (Cao et al., 2008)
33

34. Post-harvest methyl jasmonate applications for
increasing antioxidant activity in fruits
Crop Dose
(mM)
Application
method
Anti oxidants Reference
Pomegranates 0.01–0.1 Vapor Total phenols,
anthocyanins
(Sayyari et al.,
2011)
Grapes 1.78 Vapor Anthocyanins,
total phenols
(Flores et al.,
2015)
Strawberry 0.10 Vapor Anthocyanins,
phenolic acid
(Ayala-Zavala
et al., 2005)
Apple 1.00 Dipping Anthocyanins (Rudell et al.,
2002)
34

35. Reduction of chilling injury
Fruit Chemical Concentration Reference
Avocado Methyl jasmonates 1 to 25 µM (Meir et al., 1996)
Grape fruit Methyl jasmonates 10 µM (Meir et al., 1996)
Guava Methyl jasmonates 10-100 µM (González-Aguilar et
al., 2004)
Banana n-propyl dihydro-
jasmonate
1 mM (Chaiprasart et al.,
2002)
Mango n-propyl dihydro-
jasmonate
0.39 mM (Kondo et al., 2005)
Papaya Methyl jasmonates +
modified atmospheric
packaging
110 µM (González-Aguilar et
al., 2003)
35

36. Peptides
• Small secreted peptides
• Involved in cell-to-cell signaling
• Systemin, polaris, acetyl thioproline, APC (complex of amino
acids and peptide chains)
36

37. Function
• Involved in self-incompatibility
• Nodule formation in legumes
• Involved in wound signal transduction
• Helps in cell proliferation
• Regulation of salt-water homeostasis
37

38. Effect of peptides in fruit crops
 Passionfruit- APC (Amino acid and peptide chain complex) (300
ppm)
• 2 week after emergence
• Shortens transplanting time by 26% (Morales-Payan and Stall,
2004)
 Papaya (Morales-Payan and Stall, 2003)
 Acetyl thioproline (AP) (0.25 g/ l) – increase yield by 18%
 APC (3.0 g/ L) – increase yield by 26%
38

39. Effect of AP and APC in papaya
Treatment timing
(Days after flowering)
Papaya yield (fruits/ ha)
AP (0.25 ppm) APC (3.0 ppm)
Control 39162.4 39162.4
1 39234.5 39180.3
1, 90, 180 40728.5 42273.5
1, 60, 120, 180 41864.6 44.078.1
1, 45, 90, 135, 180 44466.7 46020.7
1, 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180 46410.0 479970.8
39
AP- Acetyl thioproline
APC- Amino acid and peptide chain complex
(Morales-Payan and Stall, 2003)

40. Polyamines
• Aliphatic amines, having two
or more primary amino
groups –NH2
• Putrescine, spermidine,
spermine, thermospermin
40

41. Functions
 Involved in
• Somatic embryogenesis
• Stem elongation and flowering
• Root growth and tuber development
• Fruit development and ripening
• Abiotic stress resistance
• Leaf senescence
41

42. Effect of polyamines in fruit crops
• as
42
Materials – 2 month old seedling
putrescine, spermine, spermidine- 0.01%
(Wu et al., 2010)

43. Contd…
Treatment AM colonization
(%)
Plant height
(cm)
Leaf area
(cm2)
Total root length
(cm)
Control 0 12.7 8.9 132.0
AMF 36.1 15.27 10.6 189.2
Spd+ AMF 36.3 15.07 12.5 198.2
Spm+ AMF 40.6 15.27 13.5 212.7
Put+ AMF 61.3 17.27 17.3 232.5
43
Put - Diamine putrescine Spd - Triamine spermidine
Spm - Tetramine spermine AMF - Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi
Glomus versiforme

44. Effect on flowering and fruiting
Crop Polyamine Time of application Effect Reference
Pear Putrescine
(1.0 mM)
Anthesis Increase effective
pollination period
(Ewart and
Kliewer, 1977)
Apple Putrescine
(0.1 mM)
20% open flower,
full bloom, petal fall
High fruit set,
yield
(Costa et al.,
1986)
Litchi Putrescine
(0.05 mM)
Beginning of female
bloom
Increase yield (Stern and Gazit,
2000)
Grapes Putrescine
(8.0 mM)
Pea stage, veraison
stage
Increase yield (Marzouk and
Kaser, 2011)
44

45. Effect of polyamines on fruit set and retention
in sweet orange
45
Polyamine treatments
Polyamine treatments
Spraying- at full bloom
PUT- putrescine (0.01mM)
SPD- spermidine (0.01mM)
SPM- spermine (0.01mM)
MIX- 0.001mM each
(Saleem et al., 2008)

46. Effect on fruit retention and yield attributes of
mango cv. Himsagar
Compound Conc.
(mM)
Fruit
retention
(%)
No. of
fruit/ tree
Fruit
weight
(g)
Fruit yield
(kg/ tree)
Shelf life
(days)
Control 0 0.87 134.65 214.50 28.882 5
Spermidine
0.5 1.34 167.2 244.42 40.867 7
1.0 1.00 156.4 234.64 36.698 7
Putrescine
0.5 1.61 168.0 250.22 42.037 9
1.0 1.48 163.1 242.63 39.573 7
46
(Dutta et al., 2018)
Treatment- at 10-15% opening of panicle
15 days before harvest

47. Post harvest treatments for enhance shelf
life
Crop Compound Concentration Reference
Mango Spermine 0.5 mM (Malik and Singh,
2005)
Pomegranate Putrescine,
Spermidine
1.0 mM (Ramezanian et al.,
2010)
Grape Putrescine,
Spermidine
0.5 mM (Champa et al., 2004)
Kiwi fruit Putrescine 1.0 mM (Petkou et al., 2004)
47

48. Reduction of chilling injury
 Post harvest application of 1 mM putrescine or spermine –
reduce chilling injury
• Citrus (Galston and Kaur-Sawhney, 1980)
• Mango fruit (Nair and Singh, 2004)
• Pomegranate (Mirdehghan et al., 2007)
48

49. Commercial formulations
49
Brassinosteroid Jasmonic acid Peptides

50. Summary
• Can be used for controlling growth, yield and quality
improvement, control ripening, defense against pathogen,
control physiological disorders
• More efficient and economical than classical PGRs
• Healthy and free from toxic effects as they are mainly plant
extracts
50

51. Conclusion
• Different molecules in plants can act as plant hormones and are
involved in various physiological processes in plant
• Selective application of new generation plant growth regulators
can improve nutritional and economic benefits from crops
51

52. Future line of work
• Less studies on new generation PGRs in India
• Extensive studies to be conducted
• Creating awareness among farmers
52

53. 53
“Innovation ensures good harvest”