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Beneficial Effect of Melatonin on Growth and Chlorophyll Content in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Grown Under Salt Stress Conditions

Positive Wirkung von Melatonin auf Wachstum und Chlorophyllgehalt von Weizen (Triticum aestivum L.) unter Salzstress

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Abstract

Melatonin (Mel) is an essential molecule that regulates plant growth and development and alleviates the damaging effects of various environmental stressors, including salinity. Nevertheless, the mechanism of melatonin in mediating salt stress response of wheat seedlings still needs to be explored. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate melatonin’s performance on some morpho-physiological attributes in wheat grown under salinity stress. In half-strength Hoagland solution (HS), two wheat cultivars, i.e Khaista-17 and Shahkar-13 were exposed to sodium chloride (NaCl) at 200 mM, no salt stress (control), Melatonin (200 μM) and Melatonin (200 μM) + NaCl (200 mM) for 15 days. Treatments were arranged in a 3-factorial completely randomized design (CRD) with three replicates for each treatment. After every 3‑day treatment, data were recorded on plant height, total fresh weight, shoot weight, root weight, and chlorophyll content. Results revealed that exogenous supplementation with melatonin under salinity stress significantly improved both wheat cultivars’ growth and physiological attributes (i.e. chlorophyll contents). Compared to salinity alone, the combined application of melatonin and sodium chloride increased total fresh weight by 17 and 23%, respectively, for both Shahkar-13 and Khaista-17 cultivars. Furthermore, melatonin (without NaCl) had the highest chlorophyll index (44), and the chlorophyll contents were enhanced to 25 and 37% by 200 µM melatonin combined with NaCl in both wheat cultivars, respectively. As a result, it could be concluded that the exogenous application of melatonin at 200 μM had a pronounced effect on the performance of wheat plants grown under salinity conditions through alleviating the adverse effects of salinity stress.

Zusammenfassung

Melatonin (Mel) ist ein essenzielles Molekül, das das Wachstum und die Entwicklung von Pflanzen reguliert und die schädlichen Auswirkungen verschiedener Umweltstressfaktoren, einschließlich Salzgehalt, mildert. Dennoch muss der Mechanismus von Melatonin bei der Vermittlung der Salzstressreaktion von Weizensämlingen noch erforscht werden. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde daher die Wirkung von Melatonin auf einige morphophysiologische Eigenschaften von Weizen untersucht, der unter Salzstress angebaut wurde. Zwei Weizensorten, Khaista-17 und Shahkar-13, wurden in halbstarker Hoagland-Lösung (HS) 15 Tage lang Natriumchlorid (NaCl) bei 200 mM, keinem Salzstress (Kontrolle), Melatonin (200 μM) und Melatonin (200 μM) + NaCl (200 mM) ausgesetzt. Die Behandlungen wurden in einem 3‑faktoriellen, vollständig randomisierten Design (CRD) mit drei Wiederholungen für jede Behandlung angeordnet. Nach jeder 3‑tägigen Behandlung wurden Daten zu Pflanzenhöhe, Gesamtfrischgewicht, Sprossgewicht, Wurzelgewicht und Chlorophyllgehalt aufgezeichnet. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die exogene Supplementierung mit Melatonin unter Salzstress das Wachstum und die physiologischen Eigenschaften (d. h. den Chlorophyllgehalt) beider Weizensorten signifikant verbesserte. Im Vergleich zur alleinigen Salzbelastung erhöhte die kombinierte Anwendung von Melatonin und Natriumchlorid das Gesamtfrischgewicht der beiden Sorten Shahkar-13 und Khaista-17 um 17 bzw. 23 %. Darüber hinaus hatte Melatonin (ohne NaCl) den höchsten Chlorophyllindex (44), und der Chlorophyllgehalt wurde durch 200 µM Melatonin in Kombination mit NaCl bei beiden Weizensorten auf 25 bzw. 37 % erhöht. Daraus lässt sich schließen, dass die exogene Anwendung von Melatonin in einer Konzentration von 200 μM eine ausgeprägte Wirkung auf die Leistung von Weizenpflanzen hatte, die unter Salzstress-Bedingungen angebaut wurden, indem die negativen Auswirkungen des Salzstresses gemildert wurden.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy, Amir Muhammad Khan Campus Mardan, Faculty of Crop Production Sciences, The University of Agriculture, 25130, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Izaz Ahmad, Fazal Munsif & Adil Zia

  2. Biophysical Environment Station, Center for Scientific and Technical Research on Arid Regions, 30240, Touggourt, Algeria

    Adil Mihoub

  3. Key Laboratory of Arable Land Conservation (Middle and Lower Reaches of the Yangtze River), Ministry of Agriculture, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, 430070, Wuhan, China

    Aftab Jamal

  4. Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, 61100, Vehari, Pakistan

    Muhammad Farhan Saeed

  5. Institute of Soil Science, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, 46300, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

    Saba Babar

  6. Department of Weed Science and Botany, Faculty of Crop Protection Sciences, The University of Agriculture, 25130, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Muhammad Fawad

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  1. Izaz Ahmad
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Correspondence to Aftab Jamal.

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I. Ahmad, F. Munsif, A. Mihoub, A. Jamal, M.F. Saeed, S. Babar, M. Fawad and A. Zia declare that they have no competing interests.

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Ahmad, I., Munsif, F., Mihoub, A. et al. Beneficial Effect of Melatonin on Growth and Chlorophyll Content in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Grown Under Salt Stress Conditions. Gesunde Pflanzen 74, 997–1009 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10343-022-00684-5

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