Melatonin Improves Drought Stress Tolerance of Tomato by Modulating Plant Growth, Root Architecture, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Defense System

Tomato is an important vegetable that is highly sensitive to drought (DR) stress which impairs the development of tomato seedlings. Recently, melatonin (ME) has emerged as a nontoxic, regulatory biomolecule that regulates plant growth and enhances the DR tolerance mechanism in plants. The present st...

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Main Authors: Muhammad Ahsan Altaf, Rabia Shahid, Ming-Xun Ren, Safina Naz, Muhammad Mohsin Altaf, Latif Ullah Khan, Rahul Kumar Tiwari, Milan Kumar Lal, Muhammad Adnan Shahid, Ravinder Kumar, Muhammad Azher Nawaz, Mohammad Shah Jahan, Basit Latief Jan, Parvaiz Ahmad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-02-01
Series:Antioxidants
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/11/2/309
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author Muhammad Ahsan Altaf
Rabia Shahid
Ming-Xun Ren
Safina Naz
Muhammad Mohsin Altaf
Latif Ullah Khan
Rahul Kumar Tiwari
Milan Kumar Lal
Muhammad Adnan Shahid
Ravinder Kumar
Muhammad Azher Nawaz
Mohammad Shah Jahan
Basit Latief Jan
Parvaiz Ahmad
author_facet Muhammad Ahsan Altaf
Rabia Shahid
Ming-Xun Ren
Safina Naz
Muhammad Mohsin Altaf
Latif Ullah Khan
Rahul Kumar Tiwari
Milan Kumar Lal
Muhammad Adnan Shahid
Ravinder Kumar
Muhammad Azher Nawaz
Mohammad Shah Jahan
Basit Latief Jan
Parvaiz Ahmad
author_sort Muhammad Ahsan Altaf
collection DOAJ
description Tomato is an important vegetable that is highly sensitive to drought (DR) stress which impairs the development of tomato seedlings. Recently, melatonin (ME) has emerged as a nontoxic, regulatory biomolecule that regulates plant growth and enhances the DR tolerance mechanism in plants. The present study was conducted to examine the defensive role of ME in photosynthesis, root architecture, and the antioxidant enzymes’ activities of tomato seedlings subjected to DR stress. Our results indicated that DR stress strongly suppressed growth and biomass production, inhibited photosynthesis, negatively affected root morphology, and reduced photosynthetic pigments in tomato seedlings. Per contra, soluble sugars, proline, and ROS (reactive oxygen species) were suggested to be improved in seedlings under DR stress. Conversely, ME (100 µM) pretreatment improved the detrimental-effect of DR by restoring chlorophyll content, root architecture, gas exchange parameters and plant growth attributes compared with DR-group only. Moreover, ME supplementation also mitigated the antioxidant enzymes [APX (ascorbate peroxidase), CAT (catalase), DHAR (dehydroascorbate reductase), GST (glutathione S-transferase), GR (glutathione reductase), MDHAR (monodehydroascorbate reductase), POD (peroxidase), and SOD (superoxide dismutase)], non-enzymatic antioxidant [AsA (ascorbate), DHA (dehydroascorbic acid), GSH (glutathione), and GSSG, (oxidized glutathione)] activities, reduced oxidative damage [EL (electrolyte leakage), H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> (hydrogen peroxide), MDA (malondialdehyde), and O<sub>2</sub><sup>•−</sup> (superoxide ion)] and osmoregulation (soluble sugars and proline) of tomato seedlings, by regulating gene expression for <i>SOD</i>, <i>CAT</i>, <i>APX</i>, <i>GR</i>, <i>POD</i>, <i>GST</i>, <i>DHAR</i>, and <i>MDHAR</i>. These findings determine that ME pretreatment could efficiently improve the seedlings growth, root characteristics, leaf photosynthesis and antioxidant machinery under DR stress and thereby increasing the seedlings’ adaptability to DR stress.
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spelling doaj.art-4e679a1da633419daf0693416c34c6962023-11-23T18:31:44ZengMDPI AGAntioxidants2076-39212022-02-0111230910.3390/antiox11020309Melatonin Improves Drought Stress Tolerance of Tomato by Modulating Plant Growth, Root Architecture, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Defense SystemMuhammad Ahsan Altaf0Rabia Shahid1Ming-Xun Ren2Safina Naz3Muhammad Mohsin Altaf4Latif Ullah Khan5Rahul Kumar Tiwari6Milan Kumar Lal7Muhammad Adnan Shahid8Ravinder Kumar9Muhammad Azher Nawaz10Mohammad Shah Jahan11Basit Latief Jan12Parvaiz Ahmad13School of Horticulture, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaSchool of Management, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaCenter for Terrestrial Biodiversity of the South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaDepartment of Horticulture, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan 60800, PakistanCollege of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaCollege of Tropical Crop, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, ChinaICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, IndiaICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, IndiaDepartment of Agriculture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NC 03824, USAICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, IndiaDepartment of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Sargodha 171001, PakistanDepartment of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka 1207, BangladeshDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaBotany and Microbiology Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaTomato is an important vegetable that is highly sensitive to drought (DR) stress which impairs the development of tomato seedlings. Recently, melatonin (ME) has emerged as a nontoxic, regulatory biomolecule that regulates plant growth and enhances the DR tolerance mechanism in plants. The present study was conducted to examine the defensive role of ME in photosynthesis, root architecture, and the antioxidant enzymes’ activities of tomato seedlings subjected to DR stress. Our results indicated that DR stress strongly suppressed growth and biomass production, inhibited photosynthesis, negatively affected root morphology, and reduced photosynthetic pigments in tomato seedlings. Per contra, soluble sugars, proline, and ROS (reactive oxygen species) were suggested to be improved in seedlings under DR stress. Conversely, ME (100 µM) pretreatment improved the detrimental-effect of DR by restoring chlorophyll content, root architecture, gas exchange parameters and plant growth attributes compared with DR-group only. Moreover, ME supplementation also mitigated the antioxidant enzymes [APX (ascorbate peroxidase), CAT (catalase), DHAR (dehydroascorbate reductase), GST (glutathione S-transferase), GR (glutathione reductase), MDHAR (monodehydroascorbate reductase), POD (peroxidase), and SOD (superoxide dismutase)], non-enzymatic antioxidant [AsA (ascorbate), DHA (dehydroascorbic acid), GSH (glutathione), and GSSG, (oxidized glutathione)] activities, reduced oxidative damage [EL (electrolyte leakage), H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> (hydrogen peroxide), MDA (malondialdehyde), and O<sub>2</sub><sup>•−</sup> (superoxide ion)] and osmoregulation (soluble sugars and proline) of tomato seedlings, by regulating gene expression for <i>SOD</i>, <i>CAT</i>, <i>APX</i>, <i>GR</i>, <i>POD</i>, <i>GST</i>, <i>DHAR</i>, and <i>MDHAR</i>. These findings determine that ME pretreatment could efficiently improve the seedlings growth, root characteristics, leaf photosynthesis and antioxidant machinery under DR stress and thereby increasing the seedlings’ adaptability to DR stress.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/11/2/309tomatophotosynthesisroot growthoxidative damagemelatonindrought
spellingShingle Muhammad Ahsan Altaf
Rabia Shahid
Ming-Xun Ren
Safina Naz
Muhammad Mohsin Altaf
Latif Ullah Khan
Rahul Kumar Tiwari
Milan Kumar Lal
Muhammad Adnan Shahid
Ravinder Kumar
Muhammad Azher Nawaz
Mohammad Shah Jahan
Basit Latief Jan
Parvaiz Ahmad
Melatonin Improves Drought Stress Tolerance of Tomato by Modulating Plant Growth, Root Architecture, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Defense System
Antioxidants
tomato
photosynthesis
root growth
oxidative damage
melatonin
drought
title Melatonin Improves Drought Stress Tolerance of Tomato by Modulating Plant Growth, Root Architecture, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Defense System
title_full Melatonin Improves Drought Stress Tolerance of Tomato by Modulating Plant Growth, Root Architecture, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Defense System
title_fullStr Melatonin Improves Drought Stress Tolerance of Tomato by Modulating Plant Growth, Root Architecture, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Defense System
title_full_unstemmed Melatonin Improves Drought Stress Tolerance of Tomato by Modulating Plant Growth, Root Architecture, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Defense System
title_short Melatonin Improves Drought Stress Tolerance of Tomato by Modulating Plant Growth, Root Architecture, Photosynthesis, and Antioxidant Defense System
title_sort melatonin improves drought stress tolerance of tomato by modulating plant growth root architecture photosynthesis and antioxidant defense system
topic tomato
photosynthesis
root growth
oxidative damage
melatonin
drought
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/11/2/309
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