Chitosan is a naturally abundant biopolymer that has been studied as an alternative means to elicit beneficial responses in plants, such as enhanced plant growth and improved defense response. Most studies focus on agriculture and horticulture, but few have investigated forest trees. Based on chitosan’s success as a biostimulant, we hypothesized that trees such as pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and alder (Alnus glutinosa L.) may also be positively affected by it. We evaluated vegetative growth parameters and secondary metabolites (phenolics, antioxidant indicators), pigments of seedlings grown in sterile in vitro and non-sterile ex vitro conditions to determine if various concentrations of chitosan solubilized in different solvents and stored in different conditions would significantly impact trees at various stages and conditions of growth. Results showed that in in vitro conditions, chitosan had a mainly positive effect on pine germination and growth, but a mainly negative effect on pine secondary metabolism (SM) indicators. In vitro grown alder’s SMs were positively affected in all measured parameters, but chitosan had no effect on growth. Overall, ex vitro results indicated that chitosan has no effect on pine growth and varied impact on its SM indicators. Similarly, the effect on growth parameters and SM indicators was varied in alder. Results on how chitosan storage can affect its impact on tree growth showed that storage conditions had a significant impact on both pine and alder. Based on our data, future studies must carefully evaluate all possible variables to optimize chitosan use in silviculture.
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Citation
Šilanskiene M, Sirgedaite-Šežiene V, Vaitiekunaite D, Co. MKDS (2024). Chitosan exhibits variable effects on pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and alder (Alnus glutinosa L.) growth and secondary metabolism. iForest 17: 236-244. - doi: 10.3832/ifor4404-017
Academic Editor
Claudia Cocozza
Paper history
Received: Jun 12, 2023
Accepted: Mar 31, 2024
First online: Aug 06, 2024
Publication Date: Aug 31, 2024
Publication Time: 4.27 months
© SISEF - The Italian Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology 2024
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