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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Evidence that melatonin promotes soybean seedlings growth from low-temperature stress by mediating plant mineral elements and genes involved in the antioxidant pathway

George Bawa A B C , Lingyang Feng A B C , Jianyi Shi A B C , Guopeng Chen A B C , Yajiao Cheng A B C , Jie Luo D , Weishu Wu D , Bancy Ngoke D , Ping Cheng A B C , Zhongqin Tang A B C , Tian Pu A B C , Jiang Liu A B C , Weiguo Liu A B C , Taiwen Yong A B C , Junbo Du A B C , Wenyu Yang A B C and Xiaochun Wang https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5845-5583 A B C E
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Sichuan Engineering Research Centre for Crop Strip Intercropping System, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China.

B Key Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology and Farming System in Southwest China (Ministry of Agriculture), Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China.

C College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, 211-Huimin Road, Wenjiang District, Chengdu 611130, China.

D College of Veterinary Medicine, Sichuan Agricultural University, 211-Huimin Road, Wenjiang District,Chengdu 611130, China.

E Corresponding author. Email: xchwang@sicau.edu.cn

Functional Plant Biology 47(9) 815-824 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP19358
Submitted: 11 December 2019  Accepted: 3 April 2020   Published: 18 June 2020

Abstract

Melatonin (MT) regulates several physiological activities in plants. However, information on how MT regulates soybean growth under low-temperature (LT) stress is lacking. To better understand how MT promotes plant growth and development under LT stress, we designed this study to evaluate the role of MT pretreatment on soybean seedlings exposed to LT stress. Our results showed that LT stress increased oxidative damage by increasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, which affected the growth and development of soybean seedlings. However, the application of 5 µmol L–1 MT significantly decreased the oxidative damage by increasing plant mineral element concentrations and the transcript abundance of antioxidant related genes, which enhanced the decrease in ROS accumulation. These results collectively suggest the involvement of MT in improving LT stress tolerance of soybean seedlings by mediating plant mineral elements and the expression of genes involved in the antioxidant pathway.

Additional keywords: abiotic stress, antioxidant defense genes, maize-soybean relay intercropping system, plant defense, tolerance.


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