Abstract
Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) has a great potential for plant biostimulation. Its role in plant physiology is intensively explored, and its important function in plant stress defence frequently underlined. Melatonin is particularly effective when applied as an additional factor of seed priming. In the presented research, hydroconditioning was chosen experimentally as optimal for maize (Zea mays L.) seeds. The following seed variants were compared: controlled non-treated, hydroprimed with water and hydroprimed with melatonin solutions 50 and 500 μM. To identify modifications in proteome of maize seeds caused by the applied hydroconditioning techniques, protein extracts of germinated seed embryos (24 h, 25 °C) were separated by 2D-PAGE. Next, obtained maps of proteomes were compared (statistically and graphically) using PDQuest software, and characteristic spots of proteins were analysed qualitatively by mass-spectrometric techniques and identified in the Mascot protein databases. Research helped to identify hydropriming-associated proteins, and for the first time those which were expressed only in the presence of melatonin. Study confirmed that suitably selected pre-sowing treatment with melatonin, by embryo proteome modification, effectively prepares plants to adverse environmental conditions. In melatonin treated seeds during the initial state of embryos growth, even under optimal conditions, additional antioxidative, detoxifying, anti-stresses proteins were synthesized. Moreover, the supply of energy from seed storage substances was pretty intensified. The presented results partially explain how melatonin acts in plant stress defence, and why plants with higher melatonin content have exhibited increased capacity for stress tolerance.
Highlights
Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) has a great potential for plant biostimulation
Positive effects of conditioning were not visible in corn seed germination tests performed under optimal temperature conditions
Except that hydroprimed seeds germinated more uniformly, both the germination rate and the final germination percentage were comparable in good quality control seeds and their primed equivalents (Janas et al 2009a)
Summary
Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) has a great potential for plant biostimulation. The crucial point is that biostimulators in contrast to hormones improve plant metabolic processes without changing their natural pathway They can facilitate the uptake of nutrients, stimulate root growth, contribute to higher yield, and improve its quality via increase plants resistance/tolerance to unfavourable conditions, such as drought, extreme temperature, toxic pollutions, and so on (Basak 2008). Some studies indicate such a beneficial role of various substances, e.g. glycinebetaine, proline, natural nitrophenols (Asashi SL) as supplementation of irrigation into roots, with foliar fertilizers or protection spraying and as seed treatment. There is lack of data concerning effects of melatonin applied by hydropriming on protein profiles in germinating seeds
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