Abstract
It has been suggested that melatonin acts as an important regulator in controlling root growth and development, but the underlying molecular mechanism driving this relationship remains undetermined. In this study, we demonstrated that melatonin acts as a potent molecule to govern root architecture in rice. Treatments with melatonin significantly inhibited embryonic root growth, and promoted lateral root formation and development. Genome-wide expression profiling by RNA-sequencing revealed auxin-related genes were significantly activated under melatonin treatment. Moreover, several transcription factors and candidate cis-regulatory elements involved in root growth and developments, as well as auxin-related processes, were over-represented in both co-up and -down differentially expressed genes, suggesting that melatonin-mediated root growth occurs in an auxin signal pathway-dependent manner. Further, gravitropic response analysis determined that melatonin affects auxin-regulated processes in rice root. These data show that melatonin shapes root architecture by directly or indirectly activating the auxin signaling pathway.
Highlights
Melatonin (N-acety-5-methoxytryptamine) is highly conserved, biologically active molecule, presents in all eukaryotic organisms including fungi, mosses, plants, and animals (Tan et al, 1993; Reiter et al, 2014; Schippers and Nichols, 2014)
A large proportion of Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were determined to be involved in the response to auxin stimulus and the auxin mediated signaling pathway during melatonin treatment (Figures 2, 3)
The regulation of post-embryonic root growth and lateral root formation is closely controlled by auxin signaling
Summary
Melatonin (N-acety-5-methoxytryptamine) is highly conserved, biologically active molecule, presents in all eukaryotic organisms including fungi, mosses, plants, and animals (Tan et al, 1993; Reiter et al, 2014; Schippers and Nichols, 2014). Numerous studies revealed that melatonin is widely distributed in the plant kingdom, acting in many morphological and physiological processes (Hattori et al, 1995; Chen et al, 2003; Iriti, 2009; Hardeland et al, 2012; Zuo et al, 2014; Vigentini et al, 2015) Like animals, it shows daily rhythmic fluctuations in its production and function in plants as a cellular protectant against free radicals and oxidation (Mercolini et al, 2012; Zhao et al, 2013; Liang et al, 2015). The changes in melatonin levels during seed germination, as well as flower and fruit development
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