Elicitor activity of oligohytosanes with different molecular mass and degree of acetylation when treating seeds of corn

Treatment of Polessky 185 hybrid maize seed with 0.001% aqueous solutions of oligochitosans (OC) with molecular weights (MW): 6.9 kDa; 18.4 kDa; 28.6 kDa stimulates root growth and increase in mass of seedlings. Oligochitosan with MW 28.6 kDa had the greatest elicitor activity. Treatment of seeds with 0.001% OC aqueous solutions with varying degrees of acetylation (AD): 7.0 %; 9.7 %; 16.4 %; 34.7 % led to an increase in the total mass of seedlings, regardless of the AD. Analysis of metabolites content using GC-MS in methanol extracts of the roots of corn on the 14th day of the vegetation showed, that the seeds that were processed with OC with MW 28.6 kDa and AD 28.3% showed a relative increase of the content of intermediate metabolites of hormone synthesis pathways: brassinosteroids, abscisic acid.