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Melatonin as an antioxidant and its semi-lunar rhythm in green macroalga Ulva sp.

The presence and role of melatonin in plants are still under debate owing to difficulties of identification and quantification. Accordingly, although it has been frequently proposed that melatonin acts as an antioxidant in phototrophic organisms, experimental data on its physiological role are scarc...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Tal, Ofir, Haim, Abraham, Harel, Orna, Gerchman, Yoram
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2011
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3060675/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21220782
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erq378
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author Tal, Ofir
Haim, Abraham
Harel, Orna
Gerchman, Yoram
author_facet Tal, Ofir
Haim, Abraham
Harel, Orna
Gerchman, Yoram
author_sort Tal, Ofir
collection PubMed
description The presence and role of melatonin in plants are still under debate owing to difficulties of identification and quantification. Accordingly, although it has been frequently proposed that melatonin acts as an antioxidant in phototrophic organisms, experimental data on its physiological role are scarce. This study describes the use of a rapid and simple new method for quantification of melatonin in the marine macroalga Ulva sp., organisms routinely exposed to tide-related environmental stresses and known for their high tolerance to abiotic conditions. The method was used here to show that exposure to oxidative stress-inducing environmental conditions (elevated temperature and heavy metals) induced a rise in melatonin level in the algae. Addition of exogenous melatonin alleviated the algae from cadmium-induced stress. Interestingly, although the algae were taken from a culture growing free floating and kept under constant photoperiod and water level, they exhibited a semi-lunar rhythm of melatonin levels that correlated with predicted spring tides. The correlation can probably be interpreted as reflecting preparation for predicted low tides, when the algae are exposed to increasing temperature, desiccation, and salinity, all known to induce oxidative stress. Given the simplicity of the described method it can easily be adapted for the study of melatonin in many other phototrophic organisms. These results provide, for the first time, experimental data that support both an antioxidant role for melatonin and its semi-lunar rhythm in macroalgae.
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spelling pubmed-30606752011-03-18 Melatonin as an antioxidant and its semi-lunar rhythm in green macroalga Ulva sp. Tal, Ofir Haim, Abraham Harel, Orna Gerchman, Yoram J Exp Bot Research Papers The presence and role of melatonin in plants are still under debate owing to difficulties of identification and quantification. Accordingly, although it has been frequently proposed that melatonin acts as an antioxidant in phototrophic organisms, experimental data on its physiological role are scarce. This study describes the use of a rapid and simple new method for quantification of melatonin in the marine macroalga Ulva sp., organisms routinely exposed to tide-related environmental stresses and known for their high tolerance to abiotic conditions. The method was used here to show that exposure to oxidative stress-inducing environmental conditions (elevated temperature and heavy metals) induced a rise in melatonin level in the algae. Addition of exogenous melatonin alleviated the algae from cadmium-induced stress. Interestingly, although the algae were taken from a culture growing free floating and kept under constant photoperiod and water level, they exhibited a semi-lunar rhythm of melatonin levels that correlated with predicted spring tides. The correlation can probably be interpreted as reflecting preparation for predicted low tides, when the algae are exposed to increasing temperature, desiccation, and salinity, all known to induce oxidative stress. Given the simplicity of the described method it can easily be adapted for the study of melatonin in many other phototrophic organisms. These results provide, for the first time, experimental data that support both an antioxidant role for melatonin and its semi-lunar rhythm in macroalgae. Oxford University Press 2011-03 2011-01-10 /pmc/articles/PMC3060675/ /pubmed/21220782 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erq378 Text en © 2011 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)
spellingShingle Research Papers
Tal, Ofir
Haim, Abraham
Harel, Orna
Gerchman, Yoram
Melatonin as an antioxidant and its semi-lunar rhythm in green macroalga Ulva sp.
title Melatonin as an antioxidant and its semi-lunar rhythm in green macroalga Ulva sp.
title_full Melatonin as an antioxidant and its semi-lunar rhythm in green macroalga Ulva sp.
title_fullStr Melatonin as an antioxidant and its semi-lunar rhythm in green macroalga Ulva sp.
title_full_unstemmed Melatonin as an antioxidant and its semi-lunar rhythm in green macroalga Ulva sp.
title_short Melatonin as an antioxidant and its semi-lunar rhythm in green macroalga Ulva sp.
title_sort melatonin as an antioxidant and its semi-lunar rhythm in green macroalga ulva sp.
topic Research Papers
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3060675/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21220782
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erq378
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