Abstract
Increasing carbon dioxide (CO2 ) promotes photosynthesis and mitigates heat stress-induced deleterious effects on plants, but the regulatory mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we found that tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) plants treated with high atmospheric CO2 concentrations (600, 800, and 1000 µmol mol-1 ) accumulated increased levels of melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxy tryptamine) in their leaves and this response is conserved across many plant species, including Arabidopsis, rice, wheat, mustard, cucumber, watermelon, melon, and hot pepper. Elevated CO2 (eCO2 ; 800 µmol mol-1 ) caused a 6.8-fold increase in leaf melatonin content, and eCO2 -induced melatonin biosynthesis preferentially occurred through chloroplast biosynthetic pathways in tomato plants. Crucially, manipulation of endogenous melatonin levels by genetic means affected the eCO2 -induced accumulation of sugar and starch in tomato leaves. Furthermore, net photosynthetic rate, maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II, and transcript levels of chloroplast- and nuclear-encoded photosynthetic genes, such as rbcL, rbcS, rbcA, psaD, petB, and atpA, significantly increased in COMT1 overexpressing (COMT1-OE) tomato plants, but not in melatonin-deficient comt1 mutants at eCO2 conditions. While eCO2 enhanced plant tolerance to heat stress (42°C) in wild-type and COMT1-OE, melatonin deficiency compromised eCO2 -induced thermotolerance in comt1 plants. The expression of heat shock proteins genes increased in COMT1-OE but not in comt1 plants in response to eCO2 under heat stress. Further analysis revealed that eCO2 -induced thermotolerance was closely linked to the melatonin-dependent regulation of reactive oxygen species, redox homeostasis, cellular protein protection, and phytohormone metabolism. This study unveiled a crucial mechanism of elevated CO2 -induced thermotolerance in which melatonin acts as an essential endogenous signaling molecule in tomato plants.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
