Neuroscience

Biology

Pesticide

Reactive oxygen species

Biochemistry

Botany

Glutathione

Fungicide

Glutathione S-transferase

Detoxification (alternative medicine)

Alternative medicine

Lipid peroxidation

Agronomy

Antioxidant

Enzyme

Phytotoxicity

Melatonin

Medicine

Chemistry

Carbendazim

Pathology

Environmental Pollution

Melatonin (Mel) serves as an important signalling molecule in various aspects of stress tolerance in plants. However, the function of Mel in pesticide metabolism remains unknown. Here, selecting the widely used fungicide carbendazim (MBC) as the model, we found that exogenous Mel had the ability to alleviate pesticide phytotoxicity and residues in tomato as well as in some other vegetables. Additionally, overexpression of the Mel biosynthetic gene caffeic acid O-methyltransferase 1 (COMT1) significantly enhanced the capacity of the tomato to reduce MBC phytotoxicity and residue. This outcome was mainly because of the Mel-induced antioxidant capability, as well as the key detoxification process. Indeed, levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and lipid peroxides significantly decreased after applying exogenous Mel or overexpressing COMT1, which resulted from direct ROS scavenging, and increased Mel levels significantly enhanced antioxidant enzymatic activity. More importantly, Mel activated the ascorbate-glutathione cycle to participate in glutathione S-transferase-mediated pesticide detoxification. A grafting experiment showed that rootstocks from COMT1 transgenic plants increased the Mel accumulation of wild-type scions, resulting in MBC metabolism in the scions. To our knowledge, this is the first report providing evidence of Mel-induced pesticide metabolism, which provides a novel approach for minimizing pesticide residues in crops by exploiting plant self-detoxification mechanisms.

COMT1 overexpression resulting in increased melatonin biosynthesis contributes to the alleviation of carbendazim phytotoxicity and residues in tomato plants