The paper “Seaweed and microalgae as major actors of blue biotechnology to achieve plant stimulation and pest and pathogen biocontrol – a review of the latest advances and future prospects”, published in the Journal of Agricultural Science, has been chosen as the latest Editorial Highlight and is freely available to download for one month.

Marine biotechnology, or blue biotechnology, harnesses the diversity of marine environments and organisms that generally have no equivalent on land. Despite the knowledge of many marine ecosystems, there are still many untapped resources that could serve as a basis for the development of new products and new processes. However, how to use marine biological resources in the context of innovative solutions, aimed as much at the world of agriculture, as that of health or industrial ecology?

Among marine organisms, microalgae have many advantages for use in biotechnology: large biomass obtained economically and easy purification of biomolecules. Thus, currently, microalgae are at the center of a technological revolution.

The use of algae in agriculture to amend the soil and fertilize crops is ancestral. The work – first of all empirical – has been considerably enriched by the scientific data accumulated until the beginning of the 21st century. The current agro-ecological problem, which tends towards low-input cropping systems that are at the same time productive, sustainable and respectful of the environment, has considerably increased interest in algae-based products. Many recent scientific publications highlight the biostimulant and biofertilizing properties of these extracts on plants and soils, improving the productivity and sustainability of crops.Whether on the growth of roots or shoots, resistance to water, thermal or mineral stress, germination and grain yield, the positive action of algae extracts on plants is explained by their component content beneficial: essential nutrients (N, P, K), metallic trace elements (Cu, Co, Zn, Mn, Mo), phytohormones, polysaccharides, proteins and amino acids.

Microalgae can also be considered one of the major biocontrol agents for fungi and soil-borne plant diseases. They act directly on cell membranes with functional and structural modifications, disruption, enzyme inactivation, inhibition of protein synthesis. Additionally, seaweed is a good source of bioactive compounds (i.e. fatty acids esters, phenolic compounds…) with a direct antagonistic effect against known pathogens, responsible for important crop diseases.

Research on seaweed and microalgae are one of the keys for future agriculture development. Presently, the world possesses a large number of industrial sites with plant production capacities able to provide the quantities required to supply the market. Studies are increasing in number yearly and mechanisms behind each species and/or extracts are increasingly detailed. However, a gap still needs to be overcome in order to transform scientific research on seaweed and microalgae into concrete solutions for professional users, even if the biosolutions gain momentum every year in terms of total market share.

The Journal of Agricultural Science Editorial Highlights are selected by the Editor-in-Chief and are freely available for one month. View the recent selections here.