Phytomelatonin: Discovery, Content, and Role in Plants

By M. B. Arnao. 2014

156 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is an indolic compound derived from tryptophan. Usually identified as a neurotransmitter or animal hormone, this compound was detected in plants in 1995. Interest in knowing the melatonin content of plants and its possible role therein is growing, as indicated by the increasing number of related publications. Melatonin is present in all plant species studied, with large variations in its level depending on the plant organ or tissue. It seems to be more abundant in aromatic plants and in leaves than in seeds. Regarding its physiological function in plants, melatonin shows auxin activity and is an excellent antioxidant, regulating the growth of roots, shoots, and explants, activating seed germination and rhizogenesis (lateral- and adventitious-roots), and delaying induced leaf senescence. Its ability to strengthen plants subjected to abiotic stress such as drought, cold, heat, salinity, chemical pollutants, herbicides, and UV radiation makes melatonin an interesting candidate for use as a natural biostimulating substance for treating field crops.

Subfields: Endocrine and Autonomic Systems, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/89bb21a901ddb3122fb79c8d79a84e3c82a58497

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In Endocrine and Autonomic Systems

In Plant Science

Citations in the corpus

Exogenous melatonin improves growth and photosynthetic capacity of cucumber under salinity-induced stress (2016, background): “In the recent decades, some functions of MT in plants were found (Arnao 2014).”
Foliar application of melatonin induces tolerance to drought stress in Moldavian balm plants (Dracocephalum moldavica) through regulating the antioxidant system (2018, background): “The level of melatonin in plants varies from one species to another, and also among varieties of a species (Arnao, 2014; Arnao and Hernandez-Ruiz, 2015).”
Melatonin increased maize (Zea mays L.) seedling drought tolerance by alleviating drought-induced photosynthetic inhibition and oxidative damage (2016, unknown): “It is also widely found in a wide range of concentrations in plants (Paredes et al. 2009; Posmyk and Janas 2009; Arnao 2014).”
Is Phytomelatonin a New Plant Hormone? (2020, background): “Melatonin of plant origin is called phytomelatonin [26].”