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A New Promising Plant Defense Stimulator Derived from a By-Product of Agar Extraction from Gelidium sesquipedale

Stimulation of plant defenses by elicitors is an alternative strategy to reduce pesticide use. In this study, we examined the elicitor properties of a by-product of the industrial extraction of agar from the red alga Gelidium sesquipedale. Agar extraction process leads to the formation of an alkaline residue which is poorly valorized. This by-product has been analyzed for its chemical composition. It contains 44% minerals and, among the organic compounds, sugars are the most represented and encompass 12.5% of the dry matter. When sprayed on tomato plants, this by-product enhanced the levels of defense markers such as peroxidase or phenylalanine ammonia lyase activities. Furthermore, this treatment increased the expression levels of the pathogenesis-related gene, PR9 encoding peroxidase. A field trial conducted on grapevine revealed that spraying treatment with this by-product resulted in a reduction of the macroscopic disease symptoms induced by Plasmospora viticola, with 40 to 60% efficacy. These results indicate that this agar extraction by-product could be used as a plant defense stimulator.