Abstract

Mung bean, a legume, is sensitive to abiotic stresses at different growth stages, and its yield potential is affected by drought and high-temperature stress at the sensitive stage. Melatonin is a multifunctional hormone that plays a vital role in plant stress defense mechanisms. This study aimed to evaluate the efficiency of melatonin under individual and combined drought and high-temperature stress in mung bean. An experiment was laid out with five treatments, including an exogenous application of 100 & mu;M melatonin as a seed treatment, foliar spray, and a combination of both seed treatment and foliar spray, as well as absolute control (ambient condition) and control (stress without melatonin treatment). Stresses were imposed during the mung bean's reproductive stage (31-40 DAS) for ten days. Results revealed that drought and high-temperature stress significantly decreased chlorophyll index, Fv/Fm ratio, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate through increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Foliar application of melatonin at 100 & mu;M concentration enhanced the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase and the concentration of metabolites involved in osmoregulation and ion homeostasis; thereby, it improves physiological and yield-related traits in mung bean under individual and combined stress at the reproductive stage.

Keywords

antioxidant enzyme; drought and high-temperature stress; gas exchange parameters; melatonin; yield

Published in

Plants
2023, Volume: 12, number: 13, article number: 2535
Publisher: MDPI

SLU Authors

• Kanagarajan, Selvaraju

  • Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12132535

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/123587