Effect of exogenous melatonin on salt stress in cucumber: alleviating effect and molecular basis

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) is sensitive to the salinization of environment. Soil in facility environment affects yield and quality cucumber. Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) an effective free radical scavenger plants could effectively alleviate abiotic stress injury plants. In this study, we investigated effect different concentrations exogenous melatonin mitigating salt cucumber some underlying molecular mechanisms. The results indicated that 100 ?mol/L melatonin-treated increased significantly content ascorbic acid (ASA), proline, glutathione (GSH), polyphenol flavonoid, superoxide dismutase (SOD) peroxidase (POD) activity, soluble protein sugars. We utilized RNA-seq technology analyse transcriptome profile leaf tissues under M0 M2 treatments. analysis identified 699 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with 506 up-regulated 193 down-regulated genes. Most transcription factors were also involved plant defense. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment DEGs showed significant 328 GO terms (p ? 0.05). Kyoto Encyclopedia Genes Genomes (KEGG) enriched 63 KEGG pathways Taken together, these provided a valuable reference for exploring mechanism action saline