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. 2025 Jan 10:15:1523582.
doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1523582. eCollection 2024.

Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis reveals the molecular mechanism of exogenous melatonin improves salt tolerance in eggplants

Han Wang #  1   2   3 , Yu Zhang #  2   3 , Haikun Jiang  1   2   3 , Qiangqiang Ding  1   2   3 , Yan Wang  1   2   3 , Mingxia Wang  1   2   3 , Congsheng Yan  1   2   3 , Li Jia  1   2   3
Affiliations

Transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis reveals the molecular mechanism of exogenous melatonin improves salt tolerance in eggplants

Han Wang et al. Front Plant Sci. .

Abstract

Introduction: Melatonin significantly enhances the tolerance of plants to biotic and abiotic stress, and plays an important role in plant resistance to salt stress. However, its role and molecular mechanisms in eggplant salt stress resistance have been rarely reported. In previous studies, we experimentally demonstrated that melatonin can enhance the salt stress resistance of eggplants.

Methods: In this study, we treated salt-stressed eggplant plants with melatonin and a control treatment with water, then conducted physiological and biochemical tests, transcriptomic and metabolomic sequencing, and RT-qPCR validation at different stages after treatment.

Results: The results showed that exogenous melatonin can alleviate the adverse effects of salt stress on plants by increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, reducing the content of reactive oxygen species in plants, and increasing the content of organic osmoprotectants. Transcriptomic and metabolomic data, as well as combined analysis, indicate that melatonin can activate the metabolic pathways of plant resistance to adverse stress. Compared to the control treatment with water, melatonin can activate the genes of the α-linolenic acid metabolism pathway and promote the accumulation of metabolites in this pathway, with significant effects observed 48 hours after treatment, and significantly activates the expression of genes such as SmePLA2, SmeLOXs and SmeOPR et al. and the accumulation of metabolites such as α-Linolenic acid, (9R,13R)-12-oxophytodienoic acid, 9(S)-HpOTrE and (+)-7-iso-Jasmonic acid. RT-qPCR validated the activating effect of melatonin on the candidate genes of the a-linolenic acid metabolism pathway.

Discussion: This study analyzed the molecular mechanism of melatonin in alleviating eggplant salt stress, providing a theoretical foundation for the application of melatonin in enhancing eggplant salt stress resistance in production.

Keywords: eggplant; melatonin; metabolomic; salt stress; transcriptomic; α-linolenic acid.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Phenotypic observations and physiological and biochemical assays of eggplant leaves. (A) Phenotypic observations of eggplant leaves after one week of salt stress (T0); water treated of salt-stressed plants for 24h (T1_1); water treated of salt-stressed plants for 48h (T1_2); 72 hours post-water treatment (T1_3); melatonin treated of salt-stressed plants for 24h (T2_1); melatonin treated of salt-stressed plants for 48h (T2_2); 72 hours post-melatonin treatment (T2_3). (B) Physiological and biochemical assay of eggplant leaves after one week of salt stress (T0); water treated of salt-stressed plants for 24h (T1_1); water treated of salt-stressed plants for 48h (T1_2); 72 hours post-water treatment (T1_3); melatonin treated of salt-stressed plants for 24h (T2_1); melatonin treated of salt-stressed plants for 48h (T2_2); 72 hours post-melatonin treatment (T2_3).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Metabolomic analysis of eggplant leaves with different treatments and stages. (A) principal component analysis (PCA) analysis of eggplant leaves with different treatments and stages (B) The proportion analysis of different substances detected in the eggplant leaves. (C) The Venn diagram analysis of DAMs. (D-F) The KEGG analysis of DAMs (G-I) The classification analysis of DAMs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Transcriptomic analysis of eggplant leaves with different treatments and stages. (A) principal component analysis (PCA) analysis of eggplant leaves with different treatments and stages. (B) The up and downregulated analysis of eggplant leaves with different treatments and stages. (C) The Venn diagram analysis of DEGs. (D-F) The GO analysis of DEGs (G-I) The KEGG analysis of DEGs.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Joint metabolomic and transcriptomic analysis of eggplant leaves with different treatments and stages. (A-C) The differences in fold changes between the corresponding genes and metabolites. (D-F) The KEGG analysis of DEGs and DAMs.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Analysis of candidate gene expression and metabolite accumulation in the α-linolenic acid metabolism pathway. (A) The candidate gene expression in the α-linolenic acid metabolism pathway. (B) The metabolite accumulation in the α-linolenic acid metabolism pathway.
Figure 6
Figure 6
RT-qPCR validation of candidate genes for the α-linolenic acid metabolic pathway.
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