Exogenous Melatonin Regulates Physiological Responses and Active Ingredient Levels in <i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i> under Drought Stress
<i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i>, an important medicinal plant, is rich in resveratrol and polydatin, but it frequently suffers from drought stress in the nursery stage, which inhibits the plant’s growth, active components concentrations, and the price of rhizome in the later stage. The purpo...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Plants |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/11/2141 |
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| author | Ru-Jie Shi Ming-Yan Ye Yue Liu Qiang-Sheng Wu Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah Nong Zhou |
| author_facet | Ru-Jie Shi Ming-Yan Ye Yue Liu Qiang-Sheng Wu Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah Nong Zhou |
| author_sort | Ru-Jie Shi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i>, an important medicinal plant, is rich in resveratrol and polydatin, but it frequently suffers from drought stress in the nursery stage, which inhibits the plant’s growth, active components concentrations, and the price of rhizome in the later stage. The purpose of this study was to analyze how exogenous 100 mM melatonin (MT) (an indole heterocyclic compound) affected biomass production, water potential, gas exchange, antioxidant enzyme activities, active components levels, and <i>resveratrol synthase</i> (<i>RS</i>) gene expression of <i>P</i>. <i>cuspidatum</i> seedlings growing under well-watered and drought stress conditions. The 12-week drought treatment negatively affected the shoot and root biomass, leaf water potential, and leaf gas exchange parameters (photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate), whereas the application of exogenous MT significantly increased these variables of stressed and non-stressed seedlings, accompanied by higher increases in the biomass, photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance under drought versus well-watered conditions. Drought treatment raised the activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase in the leaves, while the MT application increased the activities of the three antioxidant enzymes regardless of soil moistures. Drought treatment reduced root chrysophanol, emodin, physcion, and resveratrol levels, while it dramatically promoted root polydatin levels. At the same time, the application of exogenous MT significantly increased the levels of the five active components, regardless of soil moistures, with the exception of no change in the emodin under well-watered conditions. The MT treatment also up-regulated the relative expression of <i>PcRS</i> under both soil moistures, along with a significantly positive correlation between the relative expression of <i>PcRS</i> and resveratrol levels. In conclusion, exogenous MT can be employed as a biostimulant to enhance plant growth, leaf gas exchange, antioxidant enzyme activities, and active components of <i>P</i>. <i>cuspidatum</i> under drought stress conditions, which provides a reference for drought-resistant cultivation of <i>P</i>. <i>cuspidatum</i>. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:00:01Z |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T03:00:01Z |
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| spelling | doaj.art-bd8cb168788341c883b9a1013b6c3f522023-11-18T08:23:57ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472023-05-011211214110.3390/plants12112141Exogenous Melatonin Regulates Physiological Responses and Active Ingredient Levels in <i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i> under Drought StressRu-Jie Shi0Ming-Yan Ye1Yue Liu2Qiang-Sheng Wu3Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah4Nong Zhou5College of Food and Biology Engineering, Chongqing Three Gorges University, Chongqing 404120, ChinaCollege of Food and Biology Engineering, Chongqing Three Gorges University, Chongqing 404120, ChinaCollege of Food and Biology Engineering, Chongqing Three Gorges University, Chongqing 404120, ChinaCollege of Horticulture and Gardening, Yangtze University, Jingzhou 434025, ChinaPlant Production Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Food and Biology Engineering, Chongqing Three Gorges University, Chongqing 404120, China<i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i>, an important medicinal plant, is rich in resveratrol and polydatin, but it frequently suffers from drought stress in the nursery stage, which inhibits the plant’s growth, active components concentrations, and the price of rhizome in the later stage. The purpose of this study was to analyze how exogenous 100 mM melatonin (MT) (an indole heterocyclic compound) affected biomass production, water potential, gas exchange, antioxidant enzyme activities, active components levels, and <i>resveratrol synthase</i> (<i>RS</i>) gene expression of <i>P</i>. <i>cuspidatum</i> seedlings growing under well-watered and drought stress conditions. The 12-week drought treatment negatively affected the shoot and root biomass, leaf water potential, and leaf gas exchange parameters (photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate), whereas the application of exogenous MT significantly increased these variables of stressed and non-stressed seedlings, accompanied by higher increases in the biomass, photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance under drought versus well-watered conditions. Drought treatment raised the activities of superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, and catalase in the leaves, while the MT application increased the activities of the three antioxidant enzymes regardless of soil moistures. Drought treatment reduced root chrysophanol, emodin, physcion, and resveratrol levels, while it dramatically promoted root polydatin levels. At the same time, the application of exogenous MT significantly increased the levels of the five active components, regardless of soil moistures, with the exception of no change in the emodin under well-watered conditions. The MT treatment also up-regulated the relative expression of <i>PcRS</i> under both soil moistures, along with a significantly positive correlation between the relative expression of <i>PcRS</i> and resveratrol levels. In conclusion, exogenous MT can be employed as a biostimulant to enhance plant growth, leaf gas exchange, antioxidant enzyme activities, and active components of <i>P</i>. <i>cuspidatum</i> under drought stress conditions, which provides a reference for drought-resistant cultivation of <i>P</i>. <i>cuspidatum</i>.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/11/2141antioxidant enzymemedicinal plantmelatoninresveratrolwater stress |
| spellingShingle | Ru-Jie Shi Ming-Yan Ye Yue Liu Qiang-Sheng Wu Elsayed Fathi Abd_Allah Nong Zhou Exogenous Melatonin Regulates Physiological Responses and Active Ingredient Levels in <i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i> under Drought Stress Plants antioxidant enzyme medicinal plant melatonin resveratrol water stress |
| title | Exogenous Melatonin Regulates Physiological Responses and Active Ingredient Levels in <i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i> under Drought Stress |
| title_full | Exogenous Melatonin Regulates Physiological Responses and Active Ingredient Levels in <i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i> under Drought Stress |
| title_fullStr | Exogenous Melatonin Regulates Physiological Responses and Active Ingredient Levels in <i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i> under Drought Stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exogenous Melatonin Regulates Physiological Responses and Active Ingredient Levels in <i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i> under Drought Stress |
| title_short | Exogenous Melatonin Regulates Physiological Responses and Active Ingredient Levels in <i>Polygonum cuspidatum</i> under Drought Stress |
| title_sort | exogenous melatonin regulates physiological responses and active ingredient levels in i polygonum cuspidatum i under drought stress |
| topic | antioxidant enzyme medicinal plant melatonin resveratrol water stress |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/12/11/2141 |
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