Abstract
Nowadays, drought is one of the major abiotic factors which negatively affects growth and development of several fruit tree species, including Chinese hickory plants (Carya cathayensis Sarg.). The present investigation was conducted to study the possible positive effects of melatonin in drought resistance of C. cathayensis plants along with associated mechanisms. It was observed that melatonin pre-treatment applied before limited water availability significantly contrasted drought-promoted negative effects in terms of plant growth and physiological responses. Significant improvement was observed in key biological parameters like relative water content, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate, maximum photosynthetic efficiency of photosystem II (PSII), and PSII electron transport rate. Antioxidant apparatus was also stimulated by melatonin and enhanced activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) were noticed along with higher accumulation of proline. Gene expression studies herein revealed that melatonin promoted the up-regulation of the expression of SOD (70.7%), CAT (32.7%), and APX (66.5%) genes. As a consequence, accumulation of malondialdehyde by-products and leaf symptoms were reduced in melatonin-treated plants. All these observations offer the clear evidence that pre-treatment with melatonin ameliorate the performance of Chinese hickory plants against drought stress.
Highlights
Carya cathayensis Sarg. (Chinese hickory) is a nut tree, native to eastern China and mainly distributed around Tianmu Mountains in southern Anhui province and northeast Zhejiang province.The oil content of Chinese hickory kernel is up to 70%, and the oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids with high nutritional value, making it one of the most economically important trees of China [1,2].Agronomy 2019, 9, 702; doi:10.3390/agronomy9110702 www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomyDrought is one of the major abiotic stresses which limits crop yield and plant development [3,4].Drought stress typically reduces the relative water content (RWC) and total chlorophyll content in leaves [5]
Drought stress resulted in severe toxic effects on the phenotype of Chinese hickory leaves at 30 days after treatment (DAT)
RWC in the leaves of the M, M-P1, and M-P3 treatment groups increased by 8.14%, 10.29%, and 14.68%, compared with the CK, P1, and P3 treatment groups, respectively (30 DAT)
Summary
Carya cathayensis Sarg. (Chinese hickory) is a nut tree, native to eastern China and mainly distributed around Tianmu Mountains in southern Anhui province and northeast Zhejiang province.The oil content of Chinese hickory kernel is up to 70%, and the oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids with high nutritional value, making it one of the most economically important trees of China [1,2].Agronomy 2019, 9, 702; doi:10.3390/agronomy9110702 www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomyDrought is one of the major abiotic stresses which limits crop yield and plant development [3,4].Drought stress typically reduces the relative water content (RWC) and total chlorophyll content in leaves [5]. (Chinese hickory) is a nut tree, native to eastern China and mainly distributed around Tianmu Mountains in southern Anhui province and northeast Zhejiang province. The oil content of Chinese hickory kernel is up to 70%, and the oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids with high nutritional value, making it one of the most economically important trees of China [1,2]. Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses which limits crop yield and plant development [3,4]. Drought stress typically reduces the relative water content (RWC) and total chlorophyll content in leaves [5]. Drought negatively affects the photosynthetic process of plants [7] by limiting stomatal function and disrupting normal functioning of photosystems, photosystem
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