Transcriptomic analysis of melatonin-mediated drought stress response genes in alfalfa during germination period

作者：Xiaoxia Zhang, Wenxuan Zhu, Zirui Liu, Xiangling Ren, Yingao Li, Guo‐Min Li, Jingzhuo Wang, Xiaoyan Zhu, Yinghua Shi, Chengzhang Wang, Defeng Li, Hao Sun · 发表于：BMC Plant Biology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12870-025-06665-w · 被引用次数：9 · 研究领域：Circadian rhythm and melatonin、Plant Molecular Biology Research、Light effects on plants

BACKGROUND: Drought stress is a predominant abiotic factor contributing to reduced crop yields globally. Therefore, exploring the molecular mechanism of drought control is of great significance to improve drought resistance and ultimately achieve crop yield increase. As a plant endogenous hormone, melatonin plays a key role in the regulation of abiotic stress, but the key genes and metabolic pathways of melatonin mediated drought resistance regulation in alfalfa have not been fully revealed. Based on transcriptomics and physiological index detection, this study aimed to explore the regulatory mechanism of melatonin in alleviating drought stress during alfalfa germination. RESULTS: ), while the activity and concentration of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and glutathione (GSH) were enhanced to varying extents. To investigate the molecular mechanism underlying melatonin-mediated drought resistance in alfalfa, we performed a transcriptomic analysis on the seedlings. In the drought treatment group, we identified a total of 1,991 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), comprising 778 up-regulated and 1,213 down-regulated genes. Conversely, in the melatonin-treated group, we discovered 2,336 DEGs, including 882 up-regulated and 1,454 down-regulated genes. CONCLUSIONS: Through the application of GO functional annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis, we discovered that DEGs were predominantly enriched in pathways related to flavonoid and isoflavone biosynthesis, ...