Photosynthetica 2016, 54(1):19-27 | DOI: 10.1007/s11099-015-0140-3

Exogenous melatonin improves growth and photosynthetic capacity of cucumber under salinity-induced stress

L. Y. Wang1, J. L. Liu1, W. X. Wang1, Y. Sun1,*
1 State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas, College of Horticulture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China

Melatonin mediates many physiological processes in animals and plants. To examine the potential roles of melatonin in salinity tolerance, we investigated the effects of exogenous melatonin on growth and antioxidant system in cucumber under 200 mM NaCl stress conditions. The results showed that the melatonin-treated plants significantly increased growth mass and antioxidant protection. Under salinity stress, the addition of melatonin effectively alleviated the decrease in the net photosynthetic rate, the maximum quantum efficiency of PSII, and the total chlorophyll content. Our data also suggested that melatonin and the resistance of plants exhibited a concentration effect. The application of 50-150 μM melatonin significantly improved the photosynthetic capacity. Additionally, the pretreatment with melatonin reduced the oxidative damage under salinity stress by scavenging directly H2O2 or enhancing activity of antioxidant enzymes (including superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase) and concentrations of antioxidants (ascorbic acid and glutathione). Therefore, the melatonin-treated plants could effectively enhance their salinity tolerance.

Additional key words: antioxidant enzymes; chlorophyll fluorescence; gas exchange; growth analysis; melatonin; salt tolerance

Received: September 17, 2014; Accepted: January 29, 2015; Published: March 1, 2016  Show citation

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Wang, L.Y., Liu, J.L., Wang, W.X., & Sun, Y. (2016). Exogenous melatonin improves growth and photosynthetic capacity of cucumber under salinity-induced stress. Photosynthetica, 54(1), 19-27. doi: 10.1007/s11099-015-0140-3
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