Elucidation of plant growth promoters in the extract of Caulerpa Racemosa

Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea (Sonder) Verlaque, Huisman, et. Boudouresque (Verlaque, Durand, Huisman, Boudouresque & Parco, 2003), is an algae species that has been reported as an invasive species. It has been invading many coastlines and destroying the habitat of hundreds of different species since 1991. The aim of the thesis is to investigate possible plant growth regulators in theextracts of C. racemosa. This species was collected from the coastlines of DikiliTurkey. The samples were extracted with distilled water and ethyl acetate. The seeds of Allium cepa L., Helianthus annuus L., and Portulaca olerace L. were chosen for biological testing. The seeds of these species were treated with the extract of C. racemosa. The plant growth regulating effect of algal extracts was investigated by measuring root length, shoot length and root number, shoot number and germination percentage of the seeds. Growth experiments were carried out in 2 different ways;first by water soaking-extract treating and the second by extract soaking-water treating. After growth experiments, crude extract were separated to fractions withsilica column chromatography. UPLS-ESI/MS spectrometric detections were carried out to indicate the presence of caulerpin in the extract. Afterwards structuralelucidation was carried out with H¹-NMR spectrometry. In conclusion, since C. racemosa extract was found to stimulate the growth of the seeds, biomass of C. racemosa can be evaluated as natural growth promoter in organic agriculture.Keywords: Caulerpa racemosa var cylindracea, plant growth stimulation