SEMINAR:Seaweed Plant Biostimulants: Mode of Action and Application...

Guest: Blakrishnan Prithiviraj, Dalhoise University, Canada

Title: Seaweed Plant Biostimulants: Mode of Action and Application in Plant Abiotic Stress Management (BIO, MAT)

Date/Time: December 3, 2024, 14:40

Location: FMAN G013

Abstract: Abiotic stresses, such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and heavy metal toxicity, significantly constrain crop productivity and food security worldwide. Seaweed-based biostimulants, largely manufactured using brown and red seaweeds, have emerged as a tool to mitigate abiotic stresses. These biostimulants enhance plant resilience by modulating physiological and molecular mechanisms. The bioactive compounds such as polysaccharides, polyphenols, and secondary metabolites present in seaweed biostimulants affect stress-responsive pathways, enhancing photosynthetic efficiency, water-use efficiency, and cellular homeostasis. At a molecular level, the bioactive molecules affect transcriptional and post-translational processes involved in the regulation of gene expression leading to better plant performance under abiotic stresses. The presentation will include result of studies conducted at the Marine bioproducts laboratory, Dalhousie University.

Bio: Dr. Balakrishnan Prithiviraj is an Associate Professor, Department of Plant, Food and Environmental Sciences and also serves as the Associate Vice President (Global Relations), Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada. He was trained at Banaras Hindu University, McGill University and Colorado State University. Dr. Prithiviraj leads two research programs; 1. Molecular plant-microbe interaction – investigating the genetic basis of plant root-microbe interaction and 2. Plant biostimulants – discovery and mode of action of seaweed and microbial based plant biostimulants. His research group was one of the first to investigate the molecular mode (s) of action of seaweed-based plant biostimulants. He extensively collaborates with industry. Some of the technologies he developed and patented are now licensed by Agri-biotech companies. He has published more than 150 peer reviewed publications and supervised 19 Post-doctoral Fellows, 25 Graduate Students and 23 Undergraduate Students and Research Associates.