Role of Melatonin in Management of Stress Tolerance of Forest Tree Species

Plant growth is hindered by the exposure to biotic and abiotic stresses. Biotic stress comprises the attack of plants by insects, fungi, bacteria, viruses, protozoa, nematodes, and phanerogamic plant parasites. Abiotic stress which includes low or high temperature, high salinity, deficient or excessive water, heavy metals, and ultraviolet radiation, etc. Melatonin which is present ubiquitously in all living organisms has a multifunctional role. It regulates plant stress response generally by inhibiting the accumulation of reactive oxygen species, and indirectly by affecting stress response pathways. Owing to protective functions of melatonin against both biotic and abiotic stresses, which has increased research attention in recent years because of the elevated harmful effects of climate change, and industrial pollution, soil salinization on timber production, which in turn affects productivity in forest. So far, this aspect has been scantily explored in forest tree species which limits our understanding of the roles that melatonin may play. There is a need to accelerate relevant research in the forestry species to fill the gap in knowledge and highlight the basis of melatonin-mediated alleviation of stress. Hence, this chapter highlights the importance of melatonin in the management of biotic and abiotic stress exposed to forest tree species.