Agrobiotechnology in turfgrass - Salicylic acid

Salicylic acid reminds us of a very popular medicine for treating pain, inflammation and fever. In this case, salicylic acid helps plants to get through other kinds of bad times.

In 2015 the International Journal of Agronomy and Agricultural Research published an article defining the effect of salicylic acid on Lolium perenne.

These studies show that under stress conditions, plants that had access to salicylic acid improved biochemical and physiological characteristics and reduced post-drought stress.

Salicylic acid improves the stability and permeability of the cell membrane, allowing the loss of electrolytes in the plant to be significantly reduced. In addition, this compound has the ability to keep the stomata in good condition and to preserve chlorophyll even under stress. In normal cases, without salicylic acid, more chloroplasts and chlorophyll would have been destroyed and enzyme activity would have increased, making the quality of the plant worse once the water stress was resolved.

Salicylic acid has the ability to enhance metabolic responses such as:

• Improves the photosynthesis increasing the concentration of photosynthetically active pigments
• Reduces post-drought stress and aids stomata management.
• Antioxidant and free radical shielding effects
• Biotic resistance trigger

Analyses of micro-organisms actively help to find out whether the work being done is really effective.

Cultivate the rhizosphere is essential to increase the production of natural salicylic acid. Some species such as Sinorhizobium mililoti, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus o Agrobacterium tumefaciens are natural producers of salicylic acid and can be searched for in the profile with analysis of micro-organisms.