Melatonin alleviates aluminum-induced growth inhibition by modulating carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and reestablishing redox homeostasis in Zea mays L

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials 2022-02, Vol.423 (Pt B), p.127159-127159, Article 127159
• Main Authors: Ren, Jianhong, Yang, Xiaoxiao, Zhang, Ning, Feng, Lu, Ma, Chunying, Wang, Yuling, Yang, Zhenping, Zhao, Juan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Al stress; Aluminum - toxicity; C/N assimilation; Carbon; Homeostasis; Melatonin; Melatonin - pharmacology; Nitrogen; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative stress; Seedlings; Transcriptome; Zea mays - genetics
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.127159

Melatonin, a regulatory molecule, performs pleiotropic functions in plants, including aluminum (Al) stress mitigation. Here, we conducted transcriptomic and physiological analyses to identify metabolic processes associated with the alleviated Al-induced growth inhibition of the melatonin-treated (MT) maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings. Melatonin decreased Al concentration in maize roots and leaves under Al stress. Al stress reduced the total dry weight (DW) by 41.2% after 7 days of treatment. By contrast, the total DW was decreased by only 19.4% in MT plants. According to RNA-Seq, enzyme activity, and metabolite content data, MT plants exhibited a higher level of relatively stable carbon and nitrogen metabolism than non-treated (NT) plants. Under Al stress, MT plants showed higher photosynthetic rate and sucrose content by 29.9% and 20.5% than NT plants, respectively. Similarly, the nitrate reductase activity and protein content of MT plants were 34.0% and 15.0% higher than those of NT plants, respectively. Furthermore, exogenous supply of melatonin mitigated Al-induced oxidative stress. Overall, our results suggest that melatonin alleviates aluminum-induced growth inhibition through modulating carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and reestablishing redox homeostasis in maize. Graphical Abstarct [Display omitted] •Melatonin decreases Al concentration in maize roots and leaves.•Melatonin application alleviates aluminum-induced growth inhibition in maize plants.•Exogenous supply of melatonin promotes higher steady-state levels of C and N metabolism.•Melatonin mitigates Al-induced oxidative stress by increasing antioxidant defence.