Plant Growth Promoting Hormones from Algae - Review

 Plant hormones are naturally occurring small
molecule compounds that play an important role in the
normal functioning of the plant. It is present in very low
concentrations in plants and regulate plant development,
growth, longevity and reproductive processes. Based on
their action, plant hormones are categorized into two
categories, Plant Growth Promoters & Plant Growth
Inhibitors. List of plant hormones include auxins, abscisic
acid (ABA), gibberellins (GA), Cytokinin (CK), ethylene
(ET), salicylic acid (SA), jasmonate (JA), peptides and
brassinosteroids (BR) have been found in a broad
spectrum of microalgal lineages. These hormones carry
wide applications in stress resistance, pathogen defence,
enriching soil nutrient content. Besides plants, these
hormones are widely found in various algal taxa in
concentrations comparable with their content in higher
plants. This can be used as growth regulators for crops
growth and development. These hormones from algae are
determined using reverse-phase liquid chromatography -
tandem mass spectrometry with multiple reaction
monitoring. Their characterization methods, sources,
types and usable synthetic hormones were reviewed in this
article.