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Melatonin application confers enhanced salt tolerance by regulating Na+ and Cl− accumulation in rice

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Abstract

The mitigating effects of melatonin (MT) treatment on salt-stressed seed germination capacity and of MT pretreatment (including the whole period of seed germination and seedling cultivation) on the salt tolerance of two rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica) cultivars, Liaojing 4 (LJ4, salt tolerant) and Nipponbare (Nipp, salt sensitive), and the related physiological and molecular events were investigated in this study. The results showed that when additional MT solutions (10–500 μM) were added, the NaCl-decreased seed germination potential (GP), germination index (GI) and vigor index (VI) of LJ4 and Nipp were clearly restored. When MT pretreatment occurred during the period of seed germination and seedling cultivation prior to NaCl stress, relative electrolytic leakage in roots and leaves clearly decreased and thus restored the root vigor and growth of both plants. This could be fulfilled by multiple physiological mechanisms. For example, improving seed germination ability (GP, GI and VI), strengthening root vigor, reducing Na+ and Cl− contents in roots and leaves (especially for Cl− in roots and Na+ in leaves), and enhancing the activities of antioxidant enzymes (such as catalase and superoxide dismutase) in roots and leaves resulted in a decrease in H2O2 level. Moreover, the reduced contents of Na+ and Cl− in the roots and leaves of both salt-stressed rice plants under MT pretreatment displayed clear relations with the enhanced transcription of OsSOS1 in roots and of OsCLC1 and OsCLC2 in roots and leaves. These results could indicate that soaking with MT during seed germination and/or root application of MT at the seedling stage are very simple operations that require small doses and can effectively solve the problems of low germination rate and poor seedling establishment in saline soils. Therefore, these results provide a theoretical basis and technical support for the chemical regulation of salt tolerance and cultivation practices of rice and other crops in saline areas.

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Abbreviations

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

CAT:

Catalase

CLCs:

Chloride channels

GI:

Germination index

GP:

Germination potential

GR:

Glutathione reductase

MT:

Melatonin

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

REL:

Relative electrolytic leakage

SOS1:

Salt-overly-sensitive1

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

TTC:

Triphenyltetrazolium chloride

VI:

Vigor index

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Science-Technology Support Plan Projects of China (2015BAD01B01), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31671604, U1603111) for the financial support provided for this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lab of Plant Stress Biology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, 210095, People’s Republic of China

    Xiaojiang Li, Bingjun Yu, Yiqing Cui & Yifan Yin

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  1. Xiaojiang Li
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  2. Bingjun Yu
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  3. Yiqing Cui
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  4. Yifan Yin
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Contributions

YBJ and LXJ designed the experiments. LXJ, CYQ and YYF performed the experiments, and YBJ and LXJ analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Bingjun Yu.

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Li, X., Yu, B., Cui, Y. et al. Melatonin application confers enhanced salt tolerance by regulating Na+ and Cl− accumulation in rice. Plant Growth Regul 83, 441–454 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-017-0310-3

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