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Exogenous melatonin accelerates seed germination in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Seed germination is considered the beginning of the spermatophyte lifecycle, and it is a crucial stage in determining subsequent plant growth and development. Although many previous studies have found that melatonin can promote seed germination, the role of melatonin in cotton germination remains un...

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Autores principales: Xiao, Shuang, Liu, Liantao, Wang, Hao, Li, Dongxiao, Bai, Zhiying, Zhang, Yongjiang, Sun, Hongchun, Zhang, Ke, Li, Cundong
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6592504/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31237880
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216575
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author Xiao, Shuang
Liu, Liantao
Wang, Hao
Li, Dongxiao
Bai, Zhiying
Zhang, Yongjiang
Sun, Hongchun
Zhang, Ke
Li, Cundong
author_facet Xiao, Shuang
Liu, Liantao
Wang, Hao
Li, Dongxiao
Bai, Zhiying
Zhang, Yongjiang
Sun, Hongchun
Zhang, Ke
Li, Cundong
author_sort Xiao, Shuang
collection PubMed
description Seed germination is considered the beginning of the spermatophyte lifecycle, and it is a crucial stage in determining subsequent plant growth and development. Although many previous studies have found that melatonin can promote seed germination, the role of melatonin in cotton germination remains unexamined. The main objective of this study is the characterization of potential promotional effects of melatonin (at doses of 0, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 μM) on cotton seed germination. This experiment demonstrated that low concentrations of melatonin can promote germination, while high concentrations failed to promote germination and even inhibited germination. Together, these results indicate that a 20 μM melatonin treatment optimally promotes cotton seed germination. Compared with the control, germination potential (GP), germination rate (GR), and final fresh weight (FW) increased by 16.67%, 12.30%, and 4.81%, respectively. Although low concentrations of melatonin showed some improvement in vigor index (VI), germination index (GI), and mean germination time (MGT), these effects were not statistically significant. Antioxidant enzyme activity during seed germination was most prominent under the 20 μM melatonin treatment. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities were significantly increased by 10.37–59.73% and 17.79–47.68%, respectively, compared to the melatonin-free control. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content was reduced by 16.73–40.33%. Two important plant hormones in seed germination, abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GAs), were also studied. As melatonin concentration increased, ABA content in seeds decreased first and then increased, and GA(3) content showed a diametrically opposite trend, in which the 20 μM melatonin treatment was optimal. The 20 μM melatonin treatment reduced ABA content in seeds by 42.13–51.68%, while the 20 μM melatonin treatment increased GA(3) content in seeds to about 1.7–2.5 times that of seeds germinated without melatonin. This study provides new evidence suggesting that low concentrations of melatonin can promote cotton seed germination by increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, thereby reducing the accumulation of MDA and regulating plant hormones. This has clear applications for improving the germination rate of cotton seeds using melatonin.
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spelling pubmed-65925042019-07-05 Exogenous melatonin accelerates seed germination in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) Xiao, Shuang Liu, Liantao Wang, Hao Li, Dongxiao Bai, Zhiying Zhang, Yongjiang Sun, Hongchun Zhang, Ke Li, Cundong PLoS One Research Article Seed germination is considered the beginning of the spermatophyte lifecycle, and it is a crucial stage in determining subsequent plant growth and development. Although many previous studies have found that melatonin can promote seed germination, the role of melatonin in cotton germination remains unexamined. The main objective of this study is the characterization of potential promotional effects of melatonin (at doses of 0, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 μM) on cotton seed germination. This experiment demonstrated that low concentrations of melatonin can promote germination, while high concentrations failed to promote germination and even inhibited germination. Together, these results indicate that a 20 μM melatonin treatment optimally promotes cotton seed germination. Compared with the control, germination potential (GP), germination rate (GR), and final fresh weight (FW) increased by 16.67%, 12.30%, and 4.81%, respectively. Although low concentrations of melatonin showed some improvement in vigor index (VI), germination index (GI), and mean germination time (MGT), these effects were not statistically significant. Antioxidant enzyme activity during seed germination was most prominent under the 20 μM melatonin treatment. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities were significantly increased by 10.37–59.73% and 17.79–47.68%, respectively, compared to the melatonin-free control. Malondialdehyde (MDA) content was reduced by 16.73–40.33%. Two important plant hormones in seed germination, abscisic acid (ABA) and gibberellins (GAs), were also studied. As melatonin concentration increased, ABA content in seeds decreased first and then increased, and GA(3) content showed a diametrically opposite trend, in which the 20 μM melatonin treatment was optimal. The 20 μM melatonin treatment reduced ABA content in seeds by 42.13–51.68%, while the 20 μM melatonin treatment increased GA(3) content in seeds to about 1.7–2.5 times that of seeds germinated without melatonin. This study provides new evidence suggesting that low concentrations of melatonin can promote cotton seed germination by increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, thereby reducing the accumulation of MDA and regulating plant hormones. This has clear applications for improving the germination rate of cotton seeds using melatonin. Public Library of Science 2019-06-25 /pmc/articles/PMC6592504/ /pubmed/31237880 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216575 Text en © 2019 Xiao et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Xiao, Shuang
Liu, Liantao
Wang, Hao
Li, Dongxiao
Bai, Zhiying
Zhang, Yongjiang
Sun, Hongchun
Zhang, Ke
Li, Cundong
Exogenous melatonin accelerates seed germination in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)
title Exogenous melatonin accelerates seed germination in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)
title_full Exogenous melatonin accelerates seed germination in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)
title_fullStr Exogenous melatonin accelerates seed germination in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)
title_full_unstemmed Exogenous melatonin accelerates seed germination in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)
title_short Exogenous melatonin accelerates seed germination in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)
title_sort exogenous melatonin accelerates seed germination in cotton (gossypium hirsutum l.)
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6592504/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31237880
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0216575
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