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397935

Harnessing Spirulina Extract to Enhance Drought Tolerance in Wheat: A Morphological, Molecular Genetic and Molecular Docking Approach

Article

Last updated: 03 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), a globally important staple crop, faces significant production challenges due to climate change, particularly drought stress.  Spirulina is known for its high nutritional value and potential biostimulant properties. Therefore, this study investigated Spirulina platensis extract (SpEx) potential to mitigate drought stress effects in wheat, integrating morphological measurements, gene expression data, and molecular docking. SpEx treatment significantly mitigated drought-induced reductions in plant height (18.2%), fresh weight (29.7%), and dry weight (15.7%). Gene expression analysis demonstrated upregulation of stress-responsive genes under SpEx treatment, with peroxidase showing the highest increase (6.13-fold) at 20 mg/ml SpEx concentration, followed by cytochrome P450 (5.23-fold), protein kinase (4.56-fold), and UDPGT (3.67-fold). GC-mass spectrometry analysis of SpEx revealed 27 bioactive compounds. Molecular docking studies of the SpEx-derived compounds with six key proteins (UDPGT, Cytochrome P450, Peroxidase, Protein kinase, ROS, and PCD) revealed varying binding affinities. Four compounds (Araguspongin, Lupeol, Silybin, and Strophanthidine) showed strong interactions with ROS and PCD proteins, exhibiting binding affinities superior to control ligands. ADMET analysis of these four compounds against ROS and PCD proteins demonstrated favorable pharmacological properties, with Araguspongin and Strophanthidine showing high GI absorption and all compounds complying with Lipinski's Rule of Five. Hierarchical cluster analysis of both morphological and gene expression data confirmed distinct grouping patterns between treated and untreated plants. These findings suggest that SpEx enhances wheat drought tolerance through multiple mechanisms, including improved morphological adaptations, enhanced stress-responsive gene expression, and molecular interactions with key stress-related proteins, offering promising applications for sustainable agriculture under water-limited conditions.

DOI

10.21608/eajbsh.2024.397935

Keywords

Wheat, Drought stress, Spirulina extract treatment, Gene expression, Molecular docking

Authors

First Name

Mona

Last Name

Ibrahim

MiddleName

I. M.

Affiliation

Agricultural Biotechnology Department. Faculty of Biotechnology, Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST).

Email

mona.ibrahim@must.edu.eg

City

Egypt

Orcid

-

First Name

Alshimaa

Last Name

Ahmed

MiddleName

T.

Affiliation

Department of Agriculture Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Email

alshimaatarek@agr.asu.edu.eg

City

Egypt

Orcid

-

First Name

Khaled

Last Name

El-Dougdoug

MiddleName

A.

Affiliation

Department of Agriculture Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Email

khaled_ali@agr.asu.edu.eg

City

Egypt

Orcid

-

First Name

Ghada

Last Name

El Nady

MiddleName

H.

Affiliation

Medical Genetic Center, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Email

ghada.elnady@med.asu.edu.eg

City

Egypt

Orcid

0000-0002-4840-3592

Volume

15

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

50029

Issue Date

2024-12-01

Receive Date

2024-11-16

Publish Date

2024-12-24

Page Start

73

Page End

94

Print ISSN

2090-3812

Online ISSN

2090-3820

Link

https://eajbsh.journals.ekb.eg/article_397935.html

Detail API

https://eajbsh.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=397935

Order

397,935

Type

Original Article

Type Code

693

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, H. Botany

Publication Link

https://eajbsh.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Harnessing Spirulina Extract to Enhance Drought Tolerance in Wheat: A Morphological, Molecular Genetic and Molecular Docking Approach

Details

Type

Article

Created At

24 Dec 2024