title: Proteomic analysis reveals a role of melatonin in promoting cucumber seed germination under high salinity by regulating energy production.
abstract: Seed germination is a critical and complex process in the plant life cycle. Although previous studies have found that melatonin can promote seed germination under salt stress, the involvement of melatonin in the regulation of proteomic changes remains poorly understood. In this study, a total of 157 proteins were significantly influenced (ratio ≥ 2 or ≤ -2) by melatonin during seed germination under salt stress using a label-free quantitative technique. Our GO analysis revealed that several pathways were obviously regulated by melatonin, including ribosome biosynthesis, lipid metabolism, carbohydrate metabolism, and storage protein degradation. Not only stress-tolerant proteins but also proteins that produce ATP as part of glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and the glyoxylate cycle were upregulated by melatonin. Overall, this study provides new evidence that melatonin alleviates the inhibitory effects of NaCl stress on seed germination by promoting energy production. This study is the first to provide insights at the proteomic level into the molecular mechanism of melatonin in response to salt stress in cucumber seeds. This may be helpful to further understand the role of melatonin in cucumber seed germination under stress conditions.
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.|Beijing Vegetable Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Jun
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Qian-Qian
authors.initials: QQ
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yun-Yun
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Cucurbitaceae Vegetable Biological Breeding, Shandong Huasheng Agriculture Co. Ltd, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Xingsheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China. zhaobing@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Beijing Vegetable Research Center, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, National Engineering Research Center for Vegetables, Beijing, China. wuping@nercv.org.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: College of Horticulture, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China. yaguo@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yang-Dong
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D018553:Cucumis sativus / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D018525:Germination; D008550:Melatonin / Q000378:metabolism*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D020543:Proteome / Q000378:metabolism; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods; D054712:Salinity; D012639:Seeds / Q000502:physiology*; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D008550:Melatonin