The Potential Role of Melatonin in the Regulation of Abiotic Stress in Plants

Editorial

12 September 2023

Editorial: The potential role of melatonin in the regulation of abiotic stress in plants

Muhammad Ahsan Altaf

Milan Kumar Lal

Rahul Kumar Tiwari

Safina Naz

and

Vijay Gahlaut

1,522 views

5 citations

Editors

Muhammad Ahsan Altaf

Hainan University

Milan Kumar Lal

National Rice Research Institute (ICAR)

Rahul Kumar Tiwari

Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research (ICAR)

Dr. Safina Naz

Bahauddin Zakariya University

Vijay Gahlaut

Chandigarh University

Impact

Soybean seedlings cultivated on nutrient solution (Control), seedlings cultivated on nutrient solution and foliar sprayed with 100 µM melatonin for 14 days (Melatonin), seedlings treated with 20% PEG 6000 for 14 days (PEG), and seedlings treated with 100 µM melatonin and 20% PEG 6000 for 14 days (Melatonin+ PEG). At least three biological replicates were measured for each treatment. Difference letters indicate significant variations among the treatments at P<0.05.

Original Research

27 May 2023

Physiological mechanism of melatonin attenuating to osmotic stress tolerance in soybean seedlings

Mohammad Shah Jahan

, 5 more and

Xun Bo Zhou

3,012 views

25 citations

Review

23 March 2023

Melatonin: Current status and future perspectives in horticultural plants

Jing Zhao

and

Junjie Hu

3,710 views

13 citations

05 mM (MT1), 0.07 mM (MT2), and 1 mM (MT3). Data are means ± SE (n = 40). Different letters above the bars indicate significant differences according to the LSD test at P = 0.05.

Original Research

23 March 2023

Preharvest melatonin foliar treatments enhance postharvest longevity of cut tuberose via altering physio-biochemical traits

Faisal Zulfiqar

, 4 more and

Kadambot H. M. Siddique

2,583 views

11 citations

Different letters in each column show significant differences at the p < 0.05 based on the LSD test (means ± SD, n = 5), CT, control treatment; M, melatonin; S, salinity.

Original Research

13 March 2023

Melatonin-mediated endogenous nitric oxide coordinately boosts stability through proline and nitrogen metabolism, antioxidant capacity, and Na+/K+ transporters in tomato under NaCl stress

Abazar Ghorbani

, 2 more and

Moxian Chen

The interactions between nitric oxide (NO) and melatonin in alleviating sodium chloride (NaCl) toxicity in plants are poorly comprehended. Here, the associations between the exogenous application of melatonin and endogenous NO levels in inducing tomato seedlings’ defense response during NaCl toxicity were investigated. The results indicated that the application of melatonin (150 μM) increased height (23.7%) and biomass (32.2%), improved chlorophyll (a (137%) and b (92.8%)), and proline metabolisms, and reduced the contents of superoxide anion radicals (49.6%), hydrogen peroxide (31.4%), malondialdehyde (38%), and electrolyte leakage (32.6%) in 40-day-old tomato seedlings grown under NaCl (150 mM) treatment. Melatonin increased the antioxidant defense system in NaCl-stressed seedlings by increasing the activity of the antioxidant enzymes. Melatonin also improved N metabolism and endogenous NO content in NaCl-stressed seedlings by upregulating the activity of enzymes implicated in N assimilation. Furthermore, melatonin improved ionic balance and reduced Na content in NaCl-exposed seedlings by upregulating the expression of genes involved in K/Na ratio homeostasis (NHX1-4) and increasing the accumulation of mineral nutrients (P, N, Ca, and Mg). However, the addition of cPTIO (100 μM; an NO scavenger) reversed the beneficial impacts of melatonin, indicating the effective function of NO in melatonin-induced defense mechanisms in NaCl-stressed tomato seedlings. Therefore, our results revealed that melatonin improves the tolerance of tomato plants during NaCl toxicity by mediating internal NO.

4,225 views

35 citations

Original Research

06 March 2023

Pre-treatment of melatonin enhances the seed germination responses and physiological mechanisms of soybean (Glycine max L.) under abiotic stresses

Samrah Afzal Awan

, 4 more and

Feng Yang

5,406 views

25 citations

Review

14 February 2023

The role of melatonin in plant growth and metabolism, and its interplay with nitric oxide and auxin in plants under different types of abiotic stress

Irshad Ahmad

, 6 more and

Adam Yousif Adam Ali

Melatonin is a pleiotropic signaling molecule that reduces the adverse effects of abiotic stresses, and enhances the growth and physiological function of many plant species. Several recent studies have demonstrated the pivotal role of melatonin in plant functions, specifically its regulation of crop growth and yield. However, a comprehensive understanding of melatonin, which regulates crop growth and yield under abiotic stress conditions, is not yet available. This review focuses on the progress of research on the biosynthesis, distribution, and metabolism of melatonin, and its multiple complex functions in plants and its role in the mechanisms of metabolism regulation in plants grown under abiotic stresses. In this review, we focused on the pivotal role of melatonin in the enhancement of plant growth and regulation of crop yield, and elucidated its interactions with nitric oxide (NO) and auxin (IAA, indole-3-acetic acid) when plants are grown under various abiotic stresses. The present review revealed that the endogenousapplication of melatonin to plants, and its interactions with NO and IAA, enhanced plant growth and yield under various abiotic stresses. The interaction of melatonin with NO regulated plant morphophysiological and biochemical activities, mediated by the G protein-coupled receptor and synthesis genes. The interaction of melatonin with IAA enhanced plant growth and physiological function by increasing the levels of IAA, synthesis, and polar transport. Our aim was to provide a comprehensive review of the performance of melatonin under various abiotic stresses, and, therefore, further explicate the mechanisms that plant hormones use to regulate plant growth and yield under abiotic stresses.

12,642 views

47 citations