title: Short-Chain Chitin Oligomers: Promoters of Plant Growth.
abstract: Chitin is the second most abundant biopolymer in nature after cellulose, and it forms an integral part of insect exoskeletons, crustacean shells, krill and the cell walls of fungal spores, where it is present as a high-molecular-weight molecule. In this study, we showed that a chitin oligosaccharide of lower molecular weight (tetramer) induced genes inArabidopsisthat are principally related to vegetative growth, development and carbon and nitrogen metabolism. Based on plant responses to this chitin tetramer, a low-molecular-weight chitin mix (CHL) enriched to 92% with dimers (2mer), trimers (3mer) and tetramers (4mer) was produced for potential use in biotechnological processes. Compared with untreated plants, CHL-treated plants had increased in vitro fresh weight (10%), radicle length (25%) and total carbon and nitrogen content (6% and 8%, respectively). Our data show that low-molecular-weight forms of chitin might play a role in nature as bio-stimulators of plant growth, and they are also a known direct source of carbon and nitrogen for soil biomass. The biochemical properties of the CHL mix might make it useful as a non-contaminating bio-stimulant of plant growth and a soil restorer for greenhouses and fields.
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems and Natural Resources, MONTES (School of Forest Engineering and Natural Environment), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. alexander.winkler@mpimet.mpg.de.|Department for Wood Biology, Centre for Wood Science and Technology, Universität Hamburg, Leuschnerstr. 91d, D-2103 Hamburg, Germany. alexander.winkler@mpimet.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems and Natural Resources, MONTES (School of Forest Engineering and Natural Environment), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. josealfonso.dominguez@upm.es.
authors.forename: Jose Alfonso
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Dominguez-Nuñez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Físico-Química, Instituto de Estudios Bifuncionales, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense, Paseo Juan XXIII, 1, 28040 Madrid, Spain. iaranaz@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Inmaculada
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Aranaz
authors.affiliation: Centro Nacional de Biotecnología, Calle Darwin, 3, 28049 Madrid, Spain. cpoza@cnb.csic.es.
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Poza-Carrión
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, P.O. Box 870344, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA. kramonel@bama.ua.edu.
authors.forename: Katrina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ramonell
authors.affiliation: Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution of Science, 260 Panama St., Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ssomerville@berkeley.edu.
authors.forename: Shauna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Somerville
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems and Natural Resources, MONTES (School of Forest Engineering and Natural Environment), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain. m.berrocal@upm.es.|Centro de Biotecnología y Genómica de Plantas, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA), Campus Montegancedo UPM, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid), Spain. m.berrocal@upm.es.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berrocal-Lobo
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods; D002244:Carbon / Q000378:metabolism; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003445:Crustacea / Q000737:chemistry; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D008970:Molecular Weight; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D012987:Soil
chemical_list: D009844:Oligosaccharides; D012987:Soil; D002686:Chitin; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen
keywords: bio-stimulator; biodiversity; chitin oligosaccharides; fertilizer; soil biomass; soil health, soil biomass, bio-diversity