Melatonin and stress tolerance in horticultural crops: Insights into gene regulation, epigenetic modifications, and hormonal interplay

Horticultural crops are crucial for food, nourishment, and economies worldwide, but they face challenges from biotic and abiotic stressors, impacting productivity and quality. Effective solutions to enhance stress tolerance and yield are imperative. Melatonin (MT) is a plant compound with great potential for modulating gene expression and stress responses in horticultural crops. This review article explores the mechanisms of MT mediated gene regulation in horticultural crops under stress conditions, focusing on its interactions with key phytohormones such as abscisic acid (ABA), salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), ethylene (ET), auxin, and cytokines (CK). MT enhances stress tolerance in plants by regulating the expression of genes involved in stress response pathways, such as those related to reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging, chaperones, and transcription factors (TFs). MT affects chromatin structure, transcription factors, and gene expression, which are essential processes for plant stress tolerance.

Automated summary

Horticultural crops play a crucial role in global food, nourishment, and economies, but they face challenges from both biotic and abiotic stressors, resulting in decreased productivity and quality. Melatonin (MT) shows great potential in regulating gene expression and stress responses in horticultural crops, particularly through its interactions with key phytohormones. Through its effects on gene expression and chromatin structure, MT enhances stress tolerance in plants and improves their ability to combat stressors.