POTENTIAL ROLE OF MELATONIN IN ALLEVIATING HEAVY METALS PHYTOTOXICITY IN PLANTS

Muhammad Ali; Muhammad Ameen; Muhammad Waqas  Malik; Solaima Akhter Tamimi; Kashif Mustafa; Muhammad Irfan  Nazir; Muhammad Irfan; Salman Ahmad; Muhammad Ashar Ayub; Muhammad Nadeem

doi:10.34016/pjbt.2023.20.02.782

Authors

Muhammad Ali Institute of Agro-Industry & Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Muhammad Ameen Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Muhammad Waqas Malik Institute of Agro-Industry & Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Solaima Akhter Tamimi Institute of Agro-Industry & Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Kashif Mustafa Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Muhammad Irfan Nazir Water Testing Laboratory, Public Health Engineering Division, Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Muhammad Irfan Institute of Agro-Industry & Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Salman Ahmad Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Muhammad Ashar Ayub Institute of Agro-Industry & Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan
Muhammad Nadeem Institute of Agro-Industry & Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34016/pjbt.2023.20.02.782

Keywords:

Melatonin, Heavy metals, Plant stress, Environmental toxicology, Stress tolerance

Abstract

Heavy metal contamination is a major environmental concern because of their potential to severely damage plant growth and yield. Plants are unable to complete their morpho-physiological growth when subjected to heavy metal stress because heavy metals are toxic and can accumulate in plant tissues, disrupting normal physiological processes. Melatonin, a hormone produced by plants has been shown to play an important role in protecting plants against heavy metal toxicity by mitigating the damage caused by oxidative stress and improving antioxidative defense mechanism. This review provides an overview of the existing literature on the potential use of melatonin in plant sciences with the purpose of determining its effectiveness in alleviating heavy metal toxicity in plants. The increase in antioxidative enzymes superoxide dismutase and catalase and the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde are lowered after exogenous melatonin treatment indicating that heavy metal-induced oxidative stress in plants can be mitigated. Under heavy metal stress, melatonin provision increases plant growth and yield in a several ways, including by enhancing photosynthetic activity, nitrogen absorption, and root characteristics. It is concluded in this review that research on melatonin in plant sciences is providing a new avenue for reducing plant heavy metal stress. Melatonin mediated heavy metal resistance can have a great potential in mitigating the adverse effects of transgenic metals which open new avenues of research in plant stress physiology

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