Abstract
Melatonin is important due to its involvement in regulation of diverse mechanisms in plants. Its presence in plants is universal and provides primary defense against environmental stresses. In this study the effect of foliarly applied indole-3-Acetic Acid (IAA) and melatonin (control, 100, 150 µg/g each) on wheat seedling growth under water deficit condition was examined. The mitigation of stress was seen in melatonin treated wheat plants facing abiotic stress, with less accumulation of the H2O2, MDA and anthocyanin. A marked decrease in chlorophyll, total soluble proteins, total soluble sugars, ascorbic acid, phenolic contents and yield- related attributes was noticed in stressed condition. Treatment with melatonin and IAA alleviated stress induced decrease in biochemical attributes, and growth of wheat plants in a dose-dependent manner. A significant increase in yield was achieved by melatonin treatments in Ujala-2016 under limited water supply. It is worthy to mention that melatonin spray at 150 µg/g followed by IAA proved to be the most pronounced treatment in the buildup of osmolytes and regulation of antioxidant defense system with increase in yield under water limited environment.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ahmed FA, Desoki EREI, Kobeasy ME, El-Lethy SR (2001) Effects of some herbicides and growth regulators on wheat crop characters, protein content and amino acids. Bull NRC Egypt 16(4):467–481
Anjum SA, Wang CL, Farooq M, Hussain M, Xue LL, Zou MC (2011) Brassinolide application improves the drought tolerance in maize through modulation of enzymatic antioxidants and leaf gas exchange. J Agron Crop Sci 197(3):177–185
Arnao MB (2014) Phytomelatonin: discovery, content, and role in plants. Adv Bot 2014:e815769
Arnao M, Hernández-Ruiz J (2014) Melatonin: plant growth regulator and/or biostimulator during stress? Trends Plant Sci 19:789–797
Arnao MB, Hernández-Ruiz J (2018) Melatonin and its relationship to plant hormones. Ann Bot 121(2):195–207
Arnon DI (1949) Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplast: polyphenoloxidase in Beta vulgaris. Plant Physiol 24(1):1
Asada K, Takahashi M (1987) Production and scavenging of active oxygen in photosynthesis. In: Kyle DJ, Osmond CJ, Artzen CJ (eds) Photoinhibition: topics in photosynthesis. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 227–287
Awan IU, Sadozai MS, Sulemani MZ (1999) Stimulatory effect of GA3 and IAA on ripening process, kernel development and quality of rice. Pak J Biol Sci 2(2):410–412
Barbez E, Dünser K, Gaidora A, Lendl T, Busch W (2017) Auxin steers root cell expansion via apoplastic pH regulation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proc Natl Acad Sci 114(24):E4884–E4893
Boretti A, Rosa L (2019) Reassessing the projections of the World Water Development Report. NPJ Clean Water 2(1):1–6
Bradford M (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 72(1–2):248–254
Camak I, Horst WJ (1991) Effect of aluminium on lipid peroxidation, superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase activities in root tips of soyabean (Glycine max). Physiol Plant 83(3):463–468
Cao S, Shao J, Shi L, Xu L, Shen Z, Chen W, Yang Z (2018) Melatonin increases chilling tolerance in postharvest peach fruit by alleviating oxidative damage. Sci Rep 8(1):806
Chance B, Maehly AC (1955) Assay of catalase and peroxidase. Methods Enzymol 2:764–775
Crampton CF, Stein WH, Moore S (1957) Comparative studies on chromatographically purified histones. J Biol Chem 225(1):363–386
Das K, Roychoudhury A (2014) Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and response of antioxidants as ROS-scavengers during environmental stress in plants. Front Environ Sci 2:5310
Davies B (1976) Carotenoids. In: Goodwin TW (ed) Chemistry and biochemistry of plant pigments, vol 2, 2nd edn. Academic Press, London, pp 38–165
Dawood MG (2018) Physiological effect of melatonin, IAA and their precursor on quality and quantity of chickpea plants grown under sandy soil conditions. Agric Eng Int CIGR J 19:35–44
Faize ML, Burgos (2011) Involvement of cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase and Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase for improved tolerance against drought stress. J Exp Bot 62(8):2599–2613
Giannopolitis CN, Ries SK (1977) Superoxide dismutases occurrence in higher plants. Plant Physiol 59:309–314
Gibson SA (2000) Associations between energy density and macronutrient composition in the diets of pre-school children: sugars vs starch. Int J Obes 24(5):633
Hardeland R, Pandi-Perumal SR, Poeggeler B (2007) Melatonin in plants: focus on a vertebrate night hormone with cytoprotective properties. Funct Plant Sci Biotechnol 1(1):32–45
Hussain KH, Hussain M, Nawaz KH, Majeed A, Hayat-Bhatti KH (2011) Morphochemical Response of chaksu (Cassia absus L.) to different concentrations of indole acetic acid (IAA). Pak J Bot 43(3):1491–1493
Jagesh K, Tiwari AD, Munshi RK, Raghu N, Pandey Ajay AJS, Bhat AKS (2010) Effect of salt stress on cucumber: Na+/K+ ratio, osmolyte concentration, phenols and chlorophyll content. Acta Physiol Plant 32(1):103–114
Javed IUH, Akhtar S, Akram M, Arfanm M, Yasmin S (2003) Differential yield responses of barley genotypes to NaCl salinity. Int J Agric Biol 5(3):1560–8530
Kolar J, Machackova I (2005) Melatonin in higher plants: occurrence and possible functions. J Pineal Res 39:333–341
Li C, Wang P, Wei Z, Liang D, Liu C, Yin L et al (2012) The mitigation effects of exogenous melatonin on salinity-induced stress in Malus hupehensis. J Pineal Res 53:298–306
Liu T, Phang IY, Shen L, Chow SY, Zhang WD (2004) Morphology and mechanical properties of multiwalled carbon nanotubes reinforced nylon-6 composites. Macromolecules 37(19):7214–7222
Maxie EC, Rae HL, Eaks IL, Sommer NF (1966) Studies on radiation-induced ethylene production by lemon fruits. Radiat Bot 6(5):445–455
Meng JF, Xu TF, Wang ZZ, Fang YL, Xr ZM, Zhang ZW (2014) The ameliorative effects of exogenous melatonin on grape cuttings under water- deficient stress: antioxidant metabolites, leaf anatomy, and chloroplast morphology. J Pineal Res 57:200–212
Mirecki RM, Teramura AH (1984) Effects of ultraviolet-B irradiance on soybean V: the dependence of plant sensitivity on the photosynthetic photon flux density during and after leaf expansion. Plant Physiol 74(3):475–480
Naeem M, Bhatti I, Ahmad RH, Ashraf MY (2004) Effect of some growth hormones (GA3, IAA and Kinetin) on the morphology and early or delayed initiation of bud of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik). Pak J Bot 36(4):801–809
Naguib NY, Khalil MY, El-Sherbeny SE (2003) The influence of indole acetic acid, phenylalanine and methionine on the growth, amino acid and alkaloid production of periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus. G. Don). Plants Bull Fac Agric Cairo Univ 54(2):217–237
Paredes SD, Korkmaz IA, Manchester C, Tan DX, Reiter RJ (2009) Phytoremediation: a review. J Exp Bot 60(1):57–69
Plaut Z, Butow JBS, Blumenthal C, Wrigley WC (2004) Transport of dry matter into developing wheat kernels and its contribution to grain yield under post- anthesis water deficit and evaluated temperature. Field Crops Res 86(2–3):185–198
Sakanaka S, Tachibana Y, Okada Y (2005) Preparation and antioxidant properties of extracts of Japanese persimmon leaf tea (Kakinoha-cha). Food Chem 89(4):569–575
Sallam HA (1993) Foliar application of IAA and N- dressing as well as interaction effects on cowpea plant grown under water stress saline conditions. Egyptain J Appl Sci 8(7):726–738
Shi H, Jiang C, Ye T, Tan DX, Reiter RJ, Zhang H, Chan Z (2014) Comparative physiological, metabolomic, and transcriptomic analyses reveal mechanisms of improved abiotic stress resistance in bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] by exogenous melatonin. J Exp Bot 66(3):681–694
Simlat M, Ptak A, Skrzypek E, Warchoł M, Morańska E, Piórkowska E (2018) Melatonin significantly influences seed germination and seedling growth of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. PeerJ 6:e5009
Sosnowski J, Malinowska E, Jankowski K, Król J, Redzik P (2019) An estimation of the effects of synthetic auxin and cytokinin and the time of their application on some morphological and physiological characteristics of Medicago x varia T, Martyn. Saudi J Biol Sci 26:66–73
Tan DX, Hardeland R, Manchester LC, Korkmaz A, Ma S, Rosales-Corral S et al (2012) Functional roles of melatonin in plants, and perspectives in nutritional and agricultural science. J Exp Bot 63(2):577–597
Tan DX, Manchester LC, Liu X, Rosales-Corral SA, Acuna Castroviejo D, Reiter RJ (2013) Mitochondria and chloroplasts as the original sites of melatonin synthesis: a hypothesis related to melatonin’s primary function and evolution in eukaryotes. J Pineal Res 54(2):127–138
Tester M, Langridge P (2010) Breeding technologies to increase crop production in a changing world. Science 12:818–822
Turk H, Erdal S, Genisel M, Aticr O, Demir Y, Yanmis D (2014) The regulatory effect of melatonin on physiological, biochemical and molecular parameters in cold-stressed wheat seedlings. Plant Growth Regul 74:139–152
Velikova V, Yordanov I, Edreva A (2000) Oxidative stress and some antioxidant systems in acid rain-treated bean plants: protective role of exogenous polyamines. Plant Sci 151:59–66
Wang P, Sun X, Li C, Wei Z, Liang D, Ma F (2013) Long-term exogenous application of melatonin delays drought-induced leaf senescence in apple. J Pineal Res 54:292–302
Wei W, Li QT, Chu YN, Reiter RJ, Yu XM, Zhu DH, Zhang WK, Ma B, Lin Q, Zhang SJ, Chen SY (2014) Melatonin enhances plant growth and abiotic stress tolerance in soybean plants. J Exp Bot 66(3):695–707
Yadav AK, Carroll AJ, Estavillo GM, Rebetzke GJ, Pogson BJ (2019) Wheat drought tolerance in the field is predicted by amino acid responses to glasshouse-imposed drought. J Exp Bot 70(18):4931–4938
Zafar S, Ashraf MY, Niaz M, Kausar A, Hussain J (2015) Evaluation of wheat genotypes for salinity tolerance using physiological indices as screening tool. Pak J Bot 47(2):397–405
Zafar S, Ashraf MY, Saleem M (2018) Shift in physiological and biochemical processes in wheat supplied with zinc and potassium under saline conditions. J Plant Nutr 41(1):19–28
Zafar S, Hasnain Z, Anwar S, Perveen S, Iqbal N, Noman A, Ali M (2019) Influence of melatonin on antioxidant defence system and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Genotypes under saline condition. Pak J Bot 51(5):1987–1994
Zhang N, Zhao B, Zhang HJ, Weeda S, Yang C, Yang ZC, Ren S, Guo YD (2013) Melatonin promotes water stress tolerance, lateral root formation, and seed germination in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). J Pineal Res 54(1):15–23
Zhang N, Sun Q, Zhang H, Cao Y, Weeda S, Ren S, Guo YD (2014) Roles of melatonin in abiotic stress resistance in plants. J Exp Bot 66(3):647–656
Zhao H, Ye L, Wang Y, Zhou X, Yang J, Wang J et al (2016) Melatonin increases the chilling tolerance of chloroplast in cucumber seedlings by regulating photosynthetic electron flux and the ascorbate-glutathione cycle. Front Plant Sci 6:e85996
Zilic S, Sukalovic VH, Dodig D, Maksimovi V, Maksimovic M, Basic Z (2011) Antioxidant activity of small grain cereals caused by phenolics and lipid soluble antioxidants. J Cereal Sci 54(3):417–424
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zafar, S., Akhtar, M., Perveen, S. et al. Attenuating the adverse aspects of water stress on wheat genotypes by foliar spray of melatonin and indole-3-acetic acid. Physiol Mol Biol Plants 26, 1751–1762 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-020-00855-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12298-020-00855-6