Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exogenous Melatonin Improves Drought Tolerance in Maize Seedlings by Regulating Photosynthesis and the Ascorbate–Glutathione Cycle

  • RESEARCH PAPERS
  • Published:
Russian Journal of Plant Physiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Melatonin is known to exert protective effects in maize against drought stress, but the knowledge regarding interaction among the melatonin, photosynthetic efficiency, ascorbate–glutathione cycle still remains elusive. Two contrasting maize (Zea mays L.) genotypes, SD609 (drought-tolerant) and SD902 (drought-sensitive), were subjected to moderate and severe drought stress along with 100 μM melatonin treatment. Exogenous melatonin increased fluorescence curve levels for both genotypes under drought stress, and higher in SD609 than SD902. In both genotypes, melatonin application also significantly increased the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII), the effective quantum yield of PSII and photosystem I (PSI), and the electron transport rate between PSII and PSI under drought stress, but it decreased the quantum yield of energy dissipation and the donor side and acceptor side impairment of PSI under drought stress, regardless of stress severity. Exogenous melatonin also contributed to the reduction of membrane damage under drought stress, as reflected by significantly decreased levels of MDA, superoxide anions and H2O2 of both genotypes exposed to drought. Furthermore, melatonin treatment increased enzyme activity in AsA–GSH cycle, and upregulated the genes expression of related enzymes in AsA–GSH cycle. The effects of melatonin were more pronounced in SD609 than SD902. Collectively, these results indicated that exogenous melatonin application increased photosynthetic electron transport rate and accelerated the AsA–GSH cycle, which are factors that play an important role in drought tolerance in maize. The beneficial effect of melatonin on the drought-tolerance SD609 was more obvious.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.

Similar content being viewed by others

REFERENCES

  1. Qin, X., Feng, F., Li, Y., Xu, S., Siddique, K.H.M., and Liao, Y., Maize yield improvements in China: past trends and future directions, Plant Breed., 2016, vol. 135, p. 166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Daryanto, S., Wang, L., and Jacinthe, P.A., Global synthesis of drought effects on maize and wheat production, PLoS One, 2016, vol. 11, no. 5: e0156362.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Singh, B. and Usha, K., Salicylic acid induced physiological and biochemical changes in wheat seedlings under water stress, Plant Growth Regul., 2003, vol. 39, p. 137.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Liu, J., Guo, Y.Y., Bai, Y.W., Camberato, J.J., Xue, J.Q., and Zhang, R.H., Effects of drought stress on the photosynthesis in maize, Russ. J. Plant Physiol., 2018, vol. 65, p. 849.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Meng, J.F., Xu, T.F., Wang, Z.Z., Fang, Y.L., Xi, Z.M., and Zhang, Z.W., The ameliorative effects of exogenous melatonin on grape cuttings under water-deficient stress: antioxidant metabolites, leaf anatomy, and chloroplast morphology, J. Pineal Res., 2014, vol. 57, p. 200.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sharma, P., Jha, A.B., Dubey, R.S., and Pessarakli, M., Reactive oxygen species, oxidative damage, and antioxidative defense mechanism in plants under stressful conditions, J. Bot., 2012: 217037.

  7. Cui, G., Zhao, X., Liu, S., Sun, F., Chao, Z., and Xi, Y., Beneficial effects of melatonin in overcoming drought stress in wheat seedlings, Plant Physiol. Bioch., 2017, vol. 118, p. 138.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Ye, J., Wang, S., Deng, X., Yin, L., Xiong, B., and Wang, X., Melatonin increased maize (Zea mays L.) seedling drought tolerance by alleviating drought-induced photosynthetic inhibition and oxidative damage, Acta Physiol. Plant, 2016, vol. 38: 48.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Zhang, N., Sun, Q., Zhang, H., Cao, Y., Weeda, S., Ren, S., and Guo, Y.D., Roles of melatonin in abiotic stress resistance in plants, J. Exp. Bot., 2015, vol. 66, p. 647.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Liu, J., Wang, W., Wang, L., and Sun, Y., Exogenous melatonin improves seedling health index and drought tolerance in tomato, Plant Growth Regul., 2015, vol. 77, p. 317.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Wang, P., Yin, L., Liang, D., Li, C., Ma, F., and Yue, Z., Delayed senescence of apple leaves by exogenous melatonin treatment: toward regulating the ascorbate–glutathione cycle, J. Pineal Res., 2012, vol. 53, p. 11.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Shan, C., Zhang, S., and Ou, X., The roles of H2S and H2O2 in regulating AsA–GSH cycle in the leaves of wheat seedlings under drought stress, Protoplasma, 2018, vol. 255, p. 1257.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Apel, K. and Hirt, H., Reactive oxygen species: metabolism, oxidative stress, and signal transduction, Rev. Plant Biol., 2004, vol. 55, p. 373.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Zhao, H.L., Zhao, B., Zhang, H.J., Weeda, S., Yang, C., Yang, Z.C., Ren, S., and Guo, Y.D., Melatonin increases the chilling tolerance of chloroplast in cucumber seedlings by regulating photosynthetic electron flux and ascorbate–glutathione cycle, Front. Plant Sci., 2016, vol. 7: 1814.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Zhou, R.H., Kan, X., Chen, J.J., Hua, H.L., Li, Y., Ren, J.J., Feng, K., Liu, H.H., Deng, D.X., and Yin, Z.T., Drought-induced changes in photosynthetic electron transport in maize probed by prompt fluorescence, delayed, P700 and cyclic electron flow signals, Environ. Exp. Bot., 2019, vol. 158, p. 51.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Huang, B., Chen, Y.E., Zhao, Y.Q., Ding, C.B., Liao, J.Q., Hu, C., Zhou, L.J., Zhang, Z.W., Yuan, S., and Yuan, M., Exogenous melatonin alleviates oxidative damages and protects photosystem II in maize seedlings under drought stress, Front. Plant Sci., 2019, vol. 10: 677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Srivastava, A., Guissé, B., Greppin, H., and Strasser, R.J., Regulation of antenna structure and electron transport in photosystem II of Pisum sativum under elevated temperature probed by the fast polyphasic chlorophyll a fluorescence transient: OKJIP, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1997, vol. 1320, p. 95.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Velikova, V., Yordanov, I., and Edreva, A., Oxidative stress and some antioxidant systems in acid rain-treated bean plants: protective role of exogenous polyamines, Plant Sci., 2000, vol. 151, p. 59.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Dionisio-Sese, M.L. and Tobita, S., Antioxidant responses of rice seedlings to salinity stress, Plant Sci., 1998, vol. 135, p. 1.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Elstner, E.F. and Heupel, A., Inhibition of nitrite formation from hydroxylammoniumchloride: a simple assay for superoxide dismutase, Anal. Biochem., 1976, vol. 70, p. 616.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Hossain, M.A. and Asada, K., Inactivation of ascorbate peroxidase in spinach chloroplasts on dark addition of hydrogen peroxide: its protection by ascorbate, Plant Cell Physiol., 1984, vol. 25, p. 1285.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Grace, S.C. and Logan, B.A., Acclimation of foliar antioxidant systems to growth irradiance in three broad-leaved evergreen species, Plant Physiol., 1996, vol. 112, p. 1631.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Miyake, C. and Asada, K., Thylakoid-bound ascorbate peroxidase in spinach chloroplasts and photoreduction of its primary oxidation product monodehydroascorbate radicals in thylakoids, Plant Cell Physiol., 1992, vol. 33, p. 433.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Nakano, Y. and Asada, K., Hydrogen peroxide is scavenged by ascorbate-specific peroxidase in spinach chloroplasts, Plant Cell Physiol., 1981, vol. 22, p. 867.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Gururani, M.A., Venkatesh, J., and Tran, L.-S.P., Regulation of photosynthesis during abiotic stress-induced photoinhibition, Mol. Plant., 2015, vol. 8, p. 1304.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Tomar, R.S. and Jajoo, A., PSI becomes more tolerant to fluoranthene through the initiation of cyclic electron flow, Funct. Plant Biol., 2017, vol. 44, p. 978.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Huang, W., Zhang, S.B., and Cao, K.F., Stimulation of cyclic electron flow during recovery after chilling-induced photoinhibition of PSII, Plant Cell Physiol., 2010, vol. 51, p. 1922.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Nishiyama, Y., Allakhverdiev, S.I., and Murata, N., Protein synthesis is the primary target of reactive oxygen species in the photoinhibition of photosystem II, Physiol. Plant., 2011, vol. 142, p. 35.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Foyer, C.H., Reactive oxygen species, oxidative signaling and the regulation of photosynthesis, Environ. Exp. Bot., 2018, vol. 154, p. 134.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Li, H., Chang, J., Chen, H., Wang, Z., Gu, X., Wei, C., Zhang, Y., Ma, J., Yang, J., and Zhang, X., Exogenous melatonin confers salt stress tolerance to watermelon by improving photosynthesis and redox homeostasis, Front. Plant Sci., 2017, vol. 8: 285.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study was funded by National Key Research and Development Program of China (project no. 2017YFD0300304); the Shaanxi Technology Innovation and Guide Project (project no. 2019TG-002); National Modern Agricultural Technology and Industry System (project no. CARS-02-64).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Agronomy, Northwest A&F University, 712100, Yangling Shaanxi, China

    Y. Y. Guo, H. J. Li, C. F. Zhao, J. Q. Xue & R. H. Zhang

Authors
  1. Y. Y. Guo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. H. J. Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C. F. Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J. Q. Xue
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. R. H. Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. H. Zhang.

Ethics declarations

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants as objects of research.

Additional information

Abbreviations: APX—ascorbate peroxidase; AsA—ascorbic acid; DHAR—dehydroascorbate reductase; ETR(I)—electron transport rate of PSI; ETR(II)—electron transport rate of PSII; Fv/Fm—the maximal photosystem II photochemistry efficiency; GR—glutathione reductase; MDHAR—monodehydroascorbate reductase; PIABS—photosystem II performance index on an absorption basis; QA—primary quinone acceptor of PSII; QB—secondary quinone acceptor of PSII; Vk—the relative fluorescence intensity at 300 µs; Vj—the relative fluorescence intensity of the J-step (2 ms); Y(I)—effective quantum yield of PSI; Y(II)—effective quantum yield of PSII; Y(NA) – quantum yield of non-photochemical energy dissipation due to acceptor side limitation; Y(ND)—quantum yield of non-photochemical energy dissipation due to donor side limitation; Y(NO)—quantum yield of non-regulatory energy dissipation; Y(NPQ)—quantum yield of regulatory energy dissipation.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Guo, Y.Y., Li, H.J., Zhao, C.F. et al. Exogenous Melatonin Improves Drought Tolerance in Maize Seedlings by Regulating Photosynthesis and the Ascorbate–Glutathione Cycle. Russ J Plant Physiol 67, 809–821 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1021443720050064

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1021443720050064

Keywords:

Search

Navigation