Asian Journal of Plant and Soil Sciences

The study results showed that moderate concentrations of beta-1,3-glucanase enzyme significantly affected had a significant effect on the growth of black cumin seedlings in terms of germination percentage, germination rate, and plant height, and enhanced root system development compared to the control group. The enzyme was also observed to contribute to the activation of plant defenses and increase the accumulation of secondary compounds such as thymoquinone, indicating its role in improving plant health and enhancing its biochemical properties The enzyme was also found to help activate plant defenses and increase the accumulation of secondary compounds like thymoquinone, indicating its importance in plant health and biochemical properties. This suggests the enzyme's potential as a growth promoter in agriculture and plant breeding. Moderate concentrations of the enzyme stimulate plant defense pathways and activate genes involved in the biosynthesis of secondary compounds, thus increasing thymoquinone accumulation. Conversely, high and low concentrations of the enzyme showed an inhibitory effect on compound accumulation. This is attributed to excessive cell wall degradation and impaired cell integrity, which reduces the ability to mount a defense response and activate biosynthetic pathways. Consequently, the genes responsible for producing secondary compounds were not activated As a result, the secondary compound-producing genes were not activated.