Melatonin Mediates the Regulation of Morphological and Anatomical Traits in <i>Carex leucochlora</i> under Continuous Salt Stress
Soil salinity is one of the most critical factors limiting plant growth and development. <i>Carex leucochlora</i> is an important turfgrass species with a wide distribution in northern China that is highly sensitive to salt stress, which impairs its development. Recently, melatonin has e...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/9/2098 |
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| author | Zhixin Ren Jiannan Shi Ao Guo Ye Wang Xifeng Fan Runzhi Li Chunxin Yu Zhen Peng Yuerong Gao Ziyan Liu Liusheng Duan |
| author_facet | Zhixin Ren Jiannan Shi Ao Guo Ye Wang Xifeng Fan Runzhi Li Chunxin Yu Zhen Peng Yuerong Gao Ziyan Liu Liusheng Duan |
| author_sort | Zhixin Ren |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soil salinity is one of the most critical factors limiting plant growth and development. <i>Carex leucochlora</i> is an important turfgrass species with a wide distribution in northern China that is highly sensitive to salt stress, which impairs its development. Recently, melatonin has emerged as a nontoxic biomolecule that regulates growth and enhances salt tolerance in plants. In this study, the mechanism of melatonin’s regulation of plant growth and anatomical characteristics in <i>C. leucochlora</i> seedlings under continuous salt stress was explored. Our results indicated that salt stress strongly suppressed plant growth and leaf cell activity, inhibited root morphology and root activity, and negatively affected leaf and root anatomic structures in the seedlings. Conversely, melatonin (150 μmol L<sup>−1</sup>) pretreatment improved the detrimental effect of salt stress by restoring the morphology of the leaf, alleviating damage to the cell membrane, improving root activity, and altering the root architecture and plant growth attributes. Moreover, after 12 days of salt stress, anatomical observations of the leaf showed that the thickness of the leaf blade, vascular bundle area of the leaf main vein, vesicular cell area, thickness of the upper epidermis, and thickness of the lower epidermis were increased by 30.55, 15.63, 12.60, 16.76 and 27.53%, respectively, with melatonin under salinity. Melatonin treatment also showed an increase of 5.91, 7.59, 15.57, and 20.51% in epidermal thickness, vascular cylinder diameter, xylem vessel diameter, and pith cell diameter, respectively, compared with salt stress after 12 days. These results suggest that melatonin alleviated salt stress through augmenting seedling growth, leaf cell activity, and root characteristics, maintained the stability of anatomic traits to maintain chloroplast cell homeostasis, and also protected the vascular tissues to promote the radial transport of water and ions in the <i>C. leucochlora</i> seedlings. These modifications induced by the exogenous application of melatonin may help <i>C. leucochlora</i> to acclimate successfully to saline soils. |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:00:07Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-e1db3774cc1241cba7316f4499448f802023-11-23T14:37:18ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952022-09-01129209810.3390/agronomy12092098Melatonin Mediates the Regulation of Morphological and Anatomical Traits in <i>Carex leucochlora</i> under Continuous Salt StressZhixin Ren0Jiannan Shi1Ao Guo2Ye Wang3Xifeng Fan4Runzhi Li5Chunxin Yu6Zhen Peng7Yuerong Gao8Ziyan Liu9Liusheng Duan10Beijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaInstitute of Grassland Flowers and Ecology, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing 100097, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaBeijing Key Laboratory for Agricultural Application and New Technique, College of Plant Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, ChinaSoil salinity is one of the most critical factors limiting plant growth and development. <i>Carex leucochlora</i> is an important turfgrass species with a wide distribution in northern China that is highly sensitive to salt stress, which impairs its development. Recently, melatonin has emerged as a nontoxic biomolecule that regulates growth and enhances salt tolerance in plants. In this study, the mechanism of melatonin’s regulation of plant growth and anatomical characteristics in <i>C. leucochlora</i> seedlings under continuous salt stress was explored. Our results indicated that salt stress strongly suppressed plant growth and leaf cell activity, inhibited root morphology and root activity, and negatively affected leaf and root anatomic structures in the seedlings. Conversely, melatonin (150 μmol L<sup>−1</sup>) pretreatment improved the detrimental effect of salt stress by restoring the morphology of the leaf, alleviating damage to the cell membrane, improving root activity, and altering the root architecture and plant growth attributes. Moreover, after 12 days of salt stress, anatomical observations of the leaf showed that the thickness of the leaf blade, vascular bundle area of the leaf main vein, vesicular cell area, thickness of the upper epidermis, and thickness of the lower epidermis were increased by 30.55, 15.63, 12.60, 16.76 and 27.53%, respectively, with melatonin under salinity. Melatonin treatment also showed an increase of 5.91, 7.59, 15.57, and 20.51% in epidermal thickness, vascular cylinder diameter, xylem vessel diameter, and pith cell diameter, respectively, compared with salt stress after 12 days. These results suggest that melatonin alleviated salt stress through augmenting seedling growth, leaf cell activity, and root characteristics, maintained the stability of anatomic traits to maintain chloroplast cell homeostasis, and also protected the vascular tissues to promote the radial transport of water and ions in the <i>C. leucochlora</i> seedlings. These modifications induced by the exogenous application of melatonin may help <i>C. leucochlora</i> to acclimate successfully to saline soils.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/9/2098salinity<i>Cyperaceae</i>melatoninleaf and root |
| spellingShingle | Zhixin Ren Jiannan Shi Ao Guo Ye Wang Xifeng Fan Runzhi Li Chunxin Yu Zhen Peng Yuerong Gao Ziyan Liu Liusheng Duan Melatonin Mediates the Regulation of Morphological and Anatomical Traits in <i>Carex leucochlora</i> under Continuous Salt Stress Agronomy salinity <i>Cyperaceae</i> melatonin leaf and root |
| title | Melatonin Mediates the Regulation of Morphological and Anatomical Traits in <i>Carex leucochlora</i> under Continuous Salt Stress |
| title_full | Melatonin Mediates the Regulation of Morphological and Anatomical Traits in <i>Carex leucochlora</i> under Continuous Salt Stress |
| title_fullStr | Melatonin Mediates the Regulation of Morphological and Anatomical Traits in <i>Carex leucochlora</i> under Continuous Salt Stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Melatonin Mediates the Regulation of Morphological and Anatomical Traits in <i>Carex leucochlora</i> under Continuous Salt Stress |
| title_short | Melatonin Mediates the Regulation of Morphological and Anatomical Traits in <i>Carex leucochlora</i> under Continuous Salt Stress |
| title_sort | melatonin mediates the regulation of morphological and anatomical traits in i carex leucochlora i under continuous salt stress |
| topic | salinity <i>Cyperaceae</i> melatonin leaf and root |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/9/2098 |
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