Exogenous melatonin enhances drought tolerance and secondary-metabolite accumulation in Paeonia ostii 'Fengdan' in association with improved PSI-PSII photochemical coordination.
4 affiliations
- 1College of Agriculture, Henan University of Science and Technology, 471000 Luoyang, China.
- 2These authors contributed equally to this work.
- 3College of Horticulture and Plant Protection, Henan University of Science and Technology, 471000 Luoyang, China.
- 4Henan Key Laboratory of Germplasm Innovation and Utilization of Eco-economic Woody Plant, 471023 Luoyang, China.
Abstract
Drought limits the growth of Paeonia ostii 'Fengdan'. While melatonin (MT) is known to enhance general drought tolerance, its association with Photosystem I-Photosystem II (PSI-PSII) photochemical coordination and secondary-metabolite accumulation in P. ostii remains unclear. We foliar-sprayed potted plants under simulated drought with 0, 50, 100, 200, and 400 μmol(MT) L⁻¹. Drought induced severe oxidative damage, impaired photosynthesis, and disrupted photochemical coordination between PSI and PSII. Among all treatments, 100 μmol(MT) L⁻¹ proved the most effective. It coincided with reduced reactive oxygen species and membrane damage, alongside increased antioxidants, osmolytes, and PSI/PSII performance. Furthermore, compared to drought alone, 100 μmol(MT) L⁻¹ treatment increased the root-bark contents of total flavonoids, total phenolics, gallic acid, catechin, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, benzoic acid, and paeonol by 48.1, 36.1, 17.7, 69.4, 69.9, 24.1, 7.7, and 22.7%, respectively. Thus, 100 μmol(MT) L⁻¹ alleviated drought-induced physiological damage and increased selected secondary-metabolite contents in P. ostii.
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BibTeX
@article{zhang2026exogenous,
title = {{Exogenous melatonin enhances drought tolerance and secondary-metabolite accumulation in Paeonia ostii 'Fengdan' in association with improved PSI-PSII photochemical coordination.}},
author = {L X Zhang and B Zhang and Y M Sun and X L Zhao and Z Wang and Q M Zhang and K K Zhao and X F Li and X G Hou and Q S Chang},
journal = {Photosynthetica},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.32615/ps.2026.034},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42974284},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Exogenous melatonin enhances drought tolerance and secondary-metabolite accumulation in Paeonia ostii 'Fengdan' in association with improved PSI-PSII photochemical coordination.
AU - L X Zhang
AU - B Zhang
AU - Y M Sun
AU - X L Zhao
AU - Z Wang
AU - Q M Zhang
AU - K K Zhao
AU - X F Li
AU - X G Hou
AU - Q S Chang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/20
JO - Photosynthetica
DO - 10.32615/ps.2026.034
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42974284
AB - Drought limits the growth of Paeonia ostii 'Fengdan'. While melatonin (MT) is known to enhance general drought tolerance, its association with Photosystem I-Photosystem II (PSI-PSII) photochemical coordination and secondary-metabolite accumulation in P. ostii remains unclear. We foliar-sprayed potted plants under simulated drought with 0, 50, 100, 200, and 400 μmol(MT) L⁻¹. Drought induced severe oxidative damage, impaired photosynthesis, and disrupted photochemical coordination between PSI and PSII. Among all treatments, 100 μmol(MT) L⁻¹ proved the most effective. It coincided with reduced reactive oxygen species and membrane damage, alongside increased antioxidants, osmolytes, and PSI/PSII performance. Furthermore, compared to drought alone, 100 μmol(MT) L⁻¹ treatment increased the root-bark contents of total flavonoids, total phenolics, gallic acid, catechin, albiflorin, paeoniflorin, benzoic acid, and paeonol by 48.1, 36.1, 17.7, 69.4, 69.9, 24.1, 7.7, and 22.7%, respectively. Thus, 100 μmol(MT) L⁻¹ alleviated drought-induced physiological damage and increased selected secondary-metabolite contents in P. ostii.
SN - 0300-3604
SN - 1573-9058
ER -