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Exogenous Application of Melatonin Induces Tolerance to Salt Stress by Improving the Photosynthetic Efficiency and Antioxidant Defense System of Maize Seedling

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Abstract

Melatonin is a ubiquitous signaling plant hormone that plays a crucial role in regulating the growth and development of plants under stress conditions. Since a few species have been investigated to unveil the effect of exogenous melatonin on salt stress, in the current research study, we investigated the effects of melatonin by measuring the photosynthetic characteristics and antioxidant defense system of maize seedling under salt stress (200 mM NaCl), along with different concentrations of melatonin (MT1—30, MT2–60, and MT3–90 µM) treatments. Salt stress reduced the plant growth characteristics and photosynthetic efficiency by increasing the ROS accumulation and reducing the antioxidant enzyme activities of maize seedling. However, pretreatment with melatonin on roots alleviated NaCl-induced decrease in photosynthetic rate and oxidative stress in a dose-dependent manner. Our results revealed that exogenous application of melatonin at an optimum concentration (60 µM) under salt stress conditions significantly increased the growth of plants, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic efficiency, antioxidant enzymes activities, i.e., superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxide (POD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and reduced the reactive oxygen species (ROS). This study unraveled the crucial role of melatonin in salt stress mitigation and thus can be implicated in the management of salinity in maize seedling.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by funding from High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, No. 2013AA102902), the special fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest (201303104), the 111 Project of Chinese Education Ministry (B12007). The author would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Researchers Supporting Project number (RSP-2020/19), King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Key Laboratory of Crop Physio-Ecology and Tillage in Northwestern Loess Plateau, Ministry of Agriculture/College of Agronomy, Northwest A & F University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China

      Shakeel Ahmad, Wenwen Cui, Muhammad Kamran, Irshad Ahmad, Xiangping Meng, Xiaorong Wu, Wennan Su, Zhikuan Jia & Qingfang Han

    2. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering in Arid and Semiarid Areas, Ministry of Education/Institute of Water Saving Agriculture in Arid Areas of China, Northwest A & F University, 712100, Yangling, Shaanxi, China

      Shakeel Ahmad, Wenwen Cui, Irshad Ahmad, Xiangping Meng, Xiaorong Wu, Wennan Su, Zhikuan Jia & Qingfang Han

    3. Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nutrient Cycling and Farmland Conservation/Key Laboratory of Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer in South Region, Ministry of Agriculture/Institute of Agricultural Resources and Environment, Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 510640, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

      Muhammad Kamran

    4. College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest Agriculture & Forestry University, Yangling, China

      Tehseen Javed

    5. Department of Zoology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

      Hamed A. El-Serehy

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    1. Shakeel Ahmad
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    Contributions

    H.Q., Z.J., and S.A. designed the experiment. S.A. performed the experiment and wrote the manuscript. W.C. helped in manuscript revision. M.K. helped in data analysis and review the MS. I.A., M.X., W.X., and W.S. T.J. helped in data collection. H. A. El-S. Revised the MS for language. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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    Correspondence to Shakeel Ahmad, Zhikuan Jia or Qingfang Han.

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    Shakeel Ahmad and Wenwen Cui have contributed equally to this study.

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    Ahmad, S., Cui, W., Kamran, M. et al. Exogenous Application of Melatonin Induces Tolerance to Salt Stress by Improving the Photosynthetic Efficiency and Antioxidant Defense System of Maize Seedling. J Plant Growth Regul 40, 1270–1283 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-020-10187-0

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