Melatonin: A Small Molecule but Important for Salt Stress Tolerance in Plants

Zhan, Haoshuang; Nie, Xiaojun; Zhang, Ting; Li, Shuang; Wang, Xiaoyu; Du, Xianghong; Tong, Wei; Song, Weining

doi:10.3390/ijms20030709

Cited by 174 publications

(121 citation statements)

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“…The salt stress damage to plants is mainly manifested through osmotic stress, ion stress, and antioxidant system and hormone signal transduction, among other phenomena [35,7]. Various osmotic regulatory substances can be actively accumulated in plants, allowing them to cope with damaged cells and maintain homeostasis between the internal and external environments of cells, thus enabling plants to slowly adapt to salt stress [23]. A similar pattern is observed in salt-stress seeds, but with reduced growth rates and germination rates, indicating salt stress affects germination of cotton seeds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The appropriate application of melatonin has been shown to promote not only soluble protein content in Malus hupehensis but also the accumulation of soluble sugar in kiwifruit leaves, while increasing cell fluid concentrations and resistance to stress [21,22]. Under salt stress, accumulation of Na + under salt stress of plants leads to ion imbalances and toxicity, with K + content decreasing as exogenous melatonin promotes the absorption of K + , suggesting that melatonin can regulate ion homeostasis or gene expression responses under salt stress to mitigate damage caused by stress [23][24][25][26].…”

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Exogenous melatonin promotes seed germination and osmotic regulation under salt stress in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

et al. 2020

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Melatonin (MT; is an amine hormone involved in abiotic stress resistance. Previous studies have confirmed that melatonin can promote seed germination, mediate physiological regulation mechanisms, and stimulate crop growth under stress. However, the osmotic regulation mechanism by which exogenous melatonin mediates salt tolerance in cotton is still largely unknown. To investigate the effect of salt stress on melatonin concentration in germinating cotton seeds, we analyzed melatonin content over time during seed germination under different treatments. Melatonin content reached its minimum at day 6, while cotton germination rates peaked at day 6, indicating melatonin content and seed germination are correlated. Then we investigated the effects of 10-100 μM melatonin treatments on membrane lipid peroxides and osmotic adjustment substances during cotton seed germination under salt stress. Salt stress led to electrolyte leakage (EL) as well as accumulations of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), malondialdehyde (MDA), organic osmotic substances (i.e., proline, soluble sugars), and inorganic osmotic substances (i.e., Na + , Cl -). Meanwhile, the contents of melatonin, soluble proteins, and K + as well as the K + /Na + balance decreased, indicating that salt stress inhibited melatonin synthesis and damaged cellular membranes, seriously affecting seed germination. However, melatonin pretreatment at different concentrations alleviated the adverse effects of salt stress on cotton seeds and reduced EL as well as the contents of H 2 O 2 , MDA, Na + , and Cl -. The exogenous application of melatonin also promoted melatonin, soluble sugar, soluble proteins, proline, and K + /Na + contents under salt stress. These results demonstrate that supplemental melatonin can effectively ameliorate the repression of cotton seed germination by enhancing osmotic regulating substances and adjusting ion homeostasis under salt stress. Thus, melatonin may potentially be used to protect cotton seeds from salt stress, with the 20 μM melatonin treatment most effectively promoting cotton seed germination and improving salt stress tolerance. et al. (2020) Exogenous melatonin promotes seed germination and osmotic regulation under salt stress in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). PLoS ONE 15(1): e0228241. https://doi.org/10.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Exogenous melatonin promotes seed germination and osmotic regulation under salt stress in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

et al. 2020

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“…Salt stress is one of the most commonly encountered abiotic stresses for plants, and soil salinization is a severe environmental problem affecting crop fields. The current research provides insight into melatonin applications enhancing salt tolerance in various crop species [50,51]. Alfalfa is one of the most important forage grasses cultivated worldwide with a high biomass yield and a high protein content.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Salt stress strongly limits the growth, quality and productivity of alfalfa [6]. Melatonin is an environmentally friendly bioactive molecule, which plays important roles in plant defense against salt stress [50]. Previous reports have confirmed that exogenous melatonin promoted alfalfa drought tolerance by modulating nitro-oxidative homeostasis and proline metabolism [43] and promoted waterlogging tolerance by regulating polyamine and ethylene metabolism [48].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Melatonin Application Improves Salt Tolerance of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) by Enhancing Antioxidant Capacity

Cen

Wang

Liu

et al. 2020

Plants

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Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important and widely cultivated forage grass. The productivity and forage quality of alfalfa are severely affected by salt stress. Melatonin is a bioactive molecule with versatile physiological functions and plays important roles in response to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Melatonin has been proven efficient in improving alfalfa drought and waterlogging tolerance in recent studies. In our reports, we applied melatonin exogenously to explore the effects of melatonin on alfalfa growth and salt resistance. The results demonstrated that melatonin application promoted alfalfa seed germination and seedling growth, and reduced oxidative damage under salt stress. Further application research found that melatonin alleviated salt injury in alfalfa plants under salt stress. The electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde (MDA) content and H 2 O 2 content were significantly reduced, and the activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD) were increased with melatonin pretreatment compared to control plants under salt stress with the upregulation of genes related to melatonin and antioxidant enzymes biosynthesis. Melatonin was also involved in reducing Na + accumulation in alfalfa plants. Our study indicates that melatonin plays a primary role as an antioxidant in scavenging H 2 O 2 and enhancing activities of antioxidant enzymes to improve the salt tolerance of alfalfa plants.Plants 2020, 9, 220 2 of 17 world's irrigated land affected by saline or sodic globally [7,8]. Salinity has become one of the most important environmental stress factors impairing worldwide agricultural productivity. Under salinity conditions, the seed germination, growth and development processes of alfalfa are inhibited and they finally impair the herbage yield, as well as the forage quality [9]. Breeding new alfalfa cultivars with high salt tolerance is always needed. Genetic engineering and conventional breeding have been proven efficient for improving salt tolerance of various plant species [10][11][12][13]. However, they are time-consuming and complicated. Exogenous application of certain plant growth regulators such as phytohormone and other small molecules has been proven efficient at overcoming the harmful effects of salt stress on plants [14][15][16][17]. Moreover, plant growth regulators in low concentrations always play a role in plants, and are cost-effective. Foliar spraying of salicylic acid (SA) on faba bean inhibits Na + accumulation and lipid peroxidation, improving the antioxidant resistance and finally mitigating the damage caused by salinity [18]. Exogenously applied poly-γ-glutamic acid on wheat maintains the Na + and K + homeostasis and enhances antioxidant capacity by alleviating salinity damage under salt stress conditions [19]. Exogenous spermidine application to salt-stressed cucumber improves the photosynthetic capacity and the activity of key enzymes for CO 2 fixation by regulating the expression of related genes, and tolerance to salinity is thus...

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“…This finding has created new expectations for melatonin's function as a plant hormone [49]. Although this important discovery has elucidated the upstream pathway regarding stomata closure phenotype, there is still the need to explore the crucial role of other melatonin receptor-mediated signaling pathways during biotic/abiotic stress in plants [25,76], although interesting transcriptome approaches have already been made [41]. Recent studies that discerned the ability of melatonin to upregulate ETI and PTI defense-related genes need to affirm their findings within proteomic approaches by establishing a clear signal transduction pathway for this process.…”

Section: Conclusion and Research Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Melatonin and Its Protective Role against Biotic Stress Impacts on Plants

Almoneafy²,

et al. 2019

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A.A.); shaoyingai@21cn.com (S.A.); Tel.: +86-186-8050-4072 (M.M.-F.); +967-777766831 (A.A); +86-020-3288-5970 (S.A.) † These authors contributed equally to this work.Abstract: Biotic stress causes immense damage to agricultural products worldwide and raises the risk of hunger in many areas. Plants themselves tolerate biotic stresses via several pathways, including pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), which trigger immunity and plant resistance (R) proteins. On the other hand, humans use several non-ecofriendly methods to control biotic stresses, such as chemical applications. Compared with chemical control, melatonin is an ecofriendly compound that is an economical alternative strategy which can be used to protect animals and plants from attacks via pathogens. In plants, the bactericidal capacity of melatonin was verified against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as well as multidrug-resistant Gram-negative and -positive bacteria under in vitro conditions. Regarding plant-bacteria interaction, melatonin has presented effective antibacterial activities against phytobacterial pathogens. In plant-fungi interaction models, melatonin was found to play a key role in plant resistance to Botrytis cinerea, to increase fungicide susceptibility, and to reduce the stress tolerance of Phytophthora infestans. In plant-virus interaction models, melatonin not only efficiently eradicated apple stem grooving virus (ASGV) from apple shoots in vitro (making it useful for the production of virus-free plants) but also reduced tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) viral RNA and virus concentration in infected Nicotiana glutinosa and Solanum lycopersicum seedlings. Indeed, melatonin has unique advantages in plant growth regulation and increasing plant resistance effectiveness against different forms of biotic and abiotic stress. Although considerable work has been done regarding the role of melatonin in plant tolerance to abiotic stresses, its role in biotic stress remains unclear and requires clarification. In our review, we summarize the work that has been accomplished so far; highlight melatonin's function in plant tolerance to pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi; and determine the direction required for future studies on this topic.

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Melatonin: A Small Molecule but Important for Salt Stress Tolerance in Plants

Cited by 174 publications

References 117 publications

Exogenous melatonin promotes seed germination and osmotic regulation under salt stress in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Exogenous melatonin promotes seed germination and osmotic regulation under salt stress in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Melatonin Application Improves Salt Tolerance of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) by Enhancing Antioxidant Capacity

Melatonin and Its Protective Role against Biotic Stress Impacts on Plants

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