Application of Melatonin to Abiotic Stress in Horticultural Crops

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change has become a significant threat to the global production of horticultural crops. To feed the larger part of the world’s growing population, the agricultural output needs to be boosted by 70 percent by the middle of the century, which might supplement about an extra 2.3 billion people. Additionally, horticultural crop production is significantly affected under changing climatic conditions. One of the most critical issues for plant biologists and agronomists is how plants respond to different environmental stimuli. Drought, salt, and high temperatures are the most common environmental stresses that significantly affect plant growth and development. Traditional breeding methods have had little effectiveness due to the complexity of stress tolerance characteristics. They need effective improvements to meet the world’s increasing food demand. It is necessary to develop new and effective methods in this area. Phytohormones might act as a realistic option for producing climate-resistant crops with high yields.

In recent years, melatonin has been identified as a powerful antioxidant molecule. Melatonin has been an alternative eco-friendly approach for increasing abiotic stress tolerance in horticultural crops. Melatonin is a chemical regulator that is released in very small amounts and regulates plant growth, development, and response to the environment in various ways. Melatonin plays an important role during abiotic stress responses in horticultural plants, coordinating differential signal transduction pathways. They are involved in regulating many internal and external stimuli that bring major changes in plant development. Previous literature has revealed that melatonin has been widely studied as a signaling molecule in the response of horticultural crops to abiotic stress. Furthermore, melatonin plays a crucial role in horticultural crop production. Melatonin can regulate the physiological, biochemical, and molecular processes that allow plants to tolerate abiotic stresses, and these methods are becoming more promising in recent times.

This Special Issue aims to shed light on the morphological, physiological, and biochemical processes triggered by the application of melatonin, which ultimately leads to an increase in abiotic stress tolerance in horticultural crops. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. 

Suggest themes (but not limited to):

1. The potential role of melatonin in the regulation of abiotic stress in horticultural plants.
2. The role of ,elatonin mediated cross-talk with other phytohormones in horticultural crops.
3. Reactive species interaction (reactive oxygen species and reactive nitrogen species) with melatonin in crops under abiotic stress.
4. The role of melatonin in growth and development of agricultural crops under abiotic stress.
5. Signaling of melatonin in horticultural crops.
6. The role of melatonin molecules in heavy metal transport and accumulation.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Muhammad Ahsan Altaf
Prof. Dr. Zhiwei Wang
Guest Editors

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• melatonin
• abiotic stress
• antioxidant response
• oxidative stress
• plant physiology
• molecular biology
• horticultural plants
• food security
• tolerance mechanism