Melatonin Mitigates Water Deficit Stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i> (L.) Thunb through Up-Regulating Gene Expression Related to the Photosynthetic Rate, Flavonoid Synthesis, and the Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction Pathway
Melatonin can improve plant adaptability to water deficit stress by regulating the biosynthesis of flavonoids and improving the reactive oxygen species-scavenging enzyme system. However, it remains unclear whether melatonin mitigates the effects and causes of water deficit stress in <i>Cenchru...
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MDPI AG
2024-03-01
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| author | Li Jiang Minqiang Yun Yinxi Ma Tongbao Qu |
| author_facet | Li Jiang Minqiang Yun Yinxi Ma Tongbao Qu |
| author_sort | Li Jiang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Melatonin can improve plant adaptability to water deficit stress by regulating the biosynthesis of flavonoids and improving the reactive oxygen species-scavenging enzyme system. However, it remains unclear whether melatonin mitigates the effects and causes of water deficit stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i>. We conducted a PEG-simulated water stress pot experiment to determine whether and how exogenous melatonin alleviates water deficit in <i>C. alopecuroides</i>. The experiment was divided into four treatments: (1) normal watering (Control), (2) 40% PEG-6000 treatment (D), (3) 100 μmol·L<sup>−1</sup> melatonin treatment (MT), and (4) both melatonin and PEG-6000 treatment (DMT). The results showed that melatonin can alleviate water deficit in <i>C. alopecuroides</i> by effectively inhibiting plant chlorophyll degradation and MDA accumulation while increasing antioxidant enzyme activities and photosynthetic rates under water deficit stress. The transcriptome results indicated that melatonin regulates the expression of genes with the biosynthesis pathway of flavonoids (by increasing the expression of PAL, 4CL, HCT, and CHS), photosynthesis-antenna proteins (by increasing the expression of LHC), and sulfur metabolism (the expression of PAPSS and CysC is up-regulated in the assimilatory sulfate reduction pathway), while up-regulating the transcription factors (AP2/ERF-ERF-, C2H2-, WRKY-, Tify-, bHLH-, NAC-, and MYB-related). These findings revealed the possible causes by which melatonin mitigates water deficit stress in <i>C. alopecuroides</i>, which provided novel insights into the role of melatonin in water deficit stress. |
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| spelling | doaj.art-7805708bb5cc4430be3a1b05b467d4362024-03-12T16:53:06ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472024-03-0113571610.3390/plants13050716Melatonin Mitigates Water Deficit Stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i> (L.) Thunb through Up-Regulating Gene Expression Related to the Photosynthetic Rate, Flavonoid Synthesis, and the Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction PathwayLi Jiang0Minqiang Yun1Yinxi Ma2Tongbao Qu3College of Forestry and Grassland, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaCollege of Forestry and Grassland, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaCollege of Forestry and Grassland, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaCollege of Forestry and Grassland, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, ChinaMelatonin can improve plant adaptability to water deficit stress by regulating the biosynthesis of flavonoids and improving the reactive oxygen species-scavenging enzyme system. However, it remains unclear whether melatonin mitigates the effects and causes of water deficit stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i>. We conducted a PEG-simulated water stress pot experiment to determine whether and how exogenous melatonin alleviates water deficit in <i>C. alopecuroides</i>. The experiment was divided into four treatments: (1) normal watering (Control), (2) 40% PEG-6000 treatment (D), (3) 100 μmol·L<sup>−1</sup> melatonin treatment (MT), and (4) both melatonin and PEG-6000 treatment (DMT). The results showed that melatonin can alleviate water deficit in <i>C. alopecuroides</i> by effectively inhibiting plant chlorophyll degradation and MDA accumulation while increasing antioxidant enzyme activities and photosynthetic rates under water deficit stress. The transcriptome results indicated that melatonin regulates the expression of genes with the biosynthesis pathway of flavonoids (by increasing the expression of PAL, 4CL, HCT, and CHS), photosynthesis-antenna proteins (by increasing the expression of LHC), and sulfur metabolism (the expression of PAPSS and CysC is up-regulated in the assimilatory sulfate reduction pathway), while up-regulating the transcription factors (AP2/ERF-ERF-, C2H2-, WRKY-, Tify-, bHLH-, NAC-, and MYB-related). These findings revealed the possible causes by which melatonin mitigates water deficit stress in <i>C. alopecuroides</i>, which provided novel insights into the role of melatonin in water deficit stress.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/5/716melatoninwater deficitphotosyntheticflavonoidssulfur metabolism |
| spellingShingle | Li Jiang Minqiang Yun Yinxi Ma Tongbao Qu Melatonin Mitigates Water Deficit Stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i> (L.) Thunb through Up-Regulating Gene Expression Related to the Photosynthetic Rate, Flavonoid Synthesis, and the Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction Pathway Plants melatonin water deficit photosynthetic flavonoids sulfur metabolism |
| title | Melatonin Mitigates Water Deficit Stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i> (L.) Thunb through Up-Regulating Gene Expression Related to the Photosynthetic Rate, Flavonoid Synthesis, and the Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction Pathway |
| title_full | Melatonin Mitigates Water Deficit Stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i> (L.) Thunb through Up-Regulating Gene Expression Related to the Photosynthetic Rate, Flavonoid Synthesis, and the Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction Pathway |
| title_fullStr | Melatonin Mitigates Water Deficit Stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i> (L.) Thunb through Up-Regulating Gene Expression Related to the Photosynthetic Rate, Flavonoid Synthesis, and the Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction Pathway |
| title_full_unstemmed | Melatonin Mitigates Water Deficit Stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i> (L.) Thunb through Up-Regulating Gene Expression Related to the Photosynthetic Rate, Flavonoid Synthesis, and the Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction Pathway |
| title_short | Melatonin Mitigates Water Deficit Stress in <i>Cenchrus alopecuroides</i> (L.) Thunb through Up-Regulating Gene Expression Related to the Photosynthetic Rate, Flavonoid Synthesis, and the Assimilatory Sulfate Reduction Pathway |
| title_sort | melatonin mitigates water deficit stress in i cenchrus alopecuroides i l thunb through up regulating gene expression related to the photosynthetic rate flavonoid synthesis and the assimilatory sulfate reduction pathway |
| topic | melatonin water deficit photosynthetic flavonoids sulfur metabolism |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/13/5/716 |
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