Abstract
BackgroundMelatonin is considered a potential plant growth regulator to enhance the growth of plants and increase tolerance to various abiotic stresses. Nevertheless, melatonin’s role in mediating stress response in different plant species and growth cycles still needs to be explored. This study was conducted to understand the impact of different melatonin concentrations (0, 50, 100, and 150 μM) applied as a soil drench to maize seedling under drought stress conditions. A decreased irrigation approach based on watering was exposed to maize seedling after drought stress was applied at 40–45% of field capacity.ResultsThe results showed that drought stress negatively affected the growth behavior of maize seedlings, such as reduced biomass accumulation, decreased photosynthetic pigments, and enhanced the malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, melatonin application enhanced plant growth; alleviated ROS-induced oxidative damages by increasing the photosynthetic pigments, antioxidant enzyme activities, relative water content, and osmo-protectants of maize seedlings.ConclusionsMelatonin treatment also enhanced the stomatal traits, such as stomatal length, width, area, and the number of pores under drought stress conditions. Our data suggested that 100 μM melatonin application as soil drenching could provide a valuable foundation for improving plant tolerance to drought stress conditions.
Highlights
Melatonin is considered a potential plant growth regulator to enhance the growth of plants and increase tolerance to various abiotic stresses
Under control drought stress (CKD), fresh weight (FW) and dry weight (DW) root biomass of maize seedlings were significantly lower compared to well water conditions (CKW)
The root to shoot ratio of maize seedling was higher in treatment MT2 by 14.14% compared with control Control drought stress (CKD), indicating that melatonin treatments promoted root growth more than shoot growth
Summary
Melatonin is considered a potential plant growth regulator to enhance the growth of plants and increase tolerance to various abiotic stresses. Melatonin’s role in mediating stress response in different plant species and growth cycles still needs to be explored. This study was conducted to understand the impact of different melatonin concentrations (0, 50, 100, and 150 μM) applied as a soil drench to maize seedling under drought stress conditions. A decreased irrigation approach based on watering was exposed to maize seedling after drought stress was applied at 40–45% of field capacity. Drought is one of the abiotic stresses that limit plant growth and production, directly affecting the yield of crops [1]. Reactive oxygen species mainly include superoxide (O2), hydroxyl (OH) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in plants. Numerous studies have been carried out to enhance plant tolerance and mitigate the adverse effects of various environmental stresses, including drought stress
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