ENHANCING SALT TOLERANCE IN CAPSICUM ANNUUM PLANTS THROUGH SEED PRIMING WITH MELATONIN.
Author(s)
Date Issued
2024
Type
conferenceObject
Abstract
Abiotic stresses significantly impact agricultural productivity worldwide,
posing a serious threat to crop yields and food security. As global
salinity levels in cultivated soils continue to rise, developing effective
strategies to enhance crop resilience is imperative. Seed priming is a well
established technique that may provide relevant agronomic advantages for
farmers, including increased uniformity and improved seed germination.
Often, primed plants exhibit a higher ability to withstand different
stresses, both biotic and abiotic, making this technology a promising tool
for addressing the challenges of global warming.
Melatonin, an indolic phytohormone derived from tryptophan, is known to be
involved in many plant processes, including flowering and seed germination
as well as responses to external stressors, though its mechanisms of action
are not yet fully elucidated.
In this study, seed priming with melatonin was applied in pepper (Capsicum
annuum). Seeds were treated for 72 h in a pre-germination stage with
melatonin (100 µM) and then exposed to increasing levels of salt stress.
Our results reveal that melatonin-primed pepper plants exhibited a better
and faster response to high salinity conditions in the soil, showing a
higher decrease in stomatal conductance and a higher chlorophyll index
compared to non-primed stressed plants. Notably, we also observed a
significant increase in dry biomass in primed plants under stress
conditions. To gain further insights into the molecular role of melatonin
in inducing salt tolerance in plants, we monitored the expression of
selected genes using qRT-PCR. The results showed differential modulation of
these key genes between primed and non-primed plants when exposed to
stress. To gain a comprehensive understanding of the genetic regulation
induced by melatonin, a transcriptomic analysis of primed seeds is
currently in progress.
In conclusion, our results indicated that seed priming with melatonin could
be a viable and sustainable strategy to enhance crop tolerance to salt
stress. Additionally, our approach provides an opportunity to gain a better
understanding of the molecular role of melatonin in plant stress responses
Conference(s)
LXVII SIGA Annual Congress