Application of melatonin-mediated modulation of drought tolerance by regulating photosynthetic efficiency, chloroplast ultrastructure, and endogenous hormones in maize

Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture

Table 2 Effect of exogenous treatment of melatonin on number of grain rows⁻¹, number of grain ear⁻¹, 100 grain weight (g), and grain yield plant⁻¹ of maize under drought stress conditions

Treatments	No. of grains rows⁻¹	No. of grains ear⁻¹	100 grains wt. (g)	Yield plant⁻¹ (g)
CW	23.93 ± 1.29a	410.21 ± 18.36a	25.83 ± 1.06a	105.93 ± 3.97a
CD	21.83 ± 0.52b	233.20 ± 10.60c	17.01 ± 0.83d	38.16 ± 2.59d
MD1	22.17 ± 1.14b	360.48 ± 14.38b	19.18 ± 0.92c	69.48 ± 3.56c
MD2	23.48 ± 1.16ab	385.18 ± 16.42ab	22.34 ± 1.01b	86.23 ± 3.86b
MD3	22.85 ± 1.14ab	371.72 ± 15.73c	22.02 ± 0.98b	81.69 ± 3.38b

Different treatments indicate CW, Melatonin 0 µM + Control well water; CD, Melatonin 0 µM + Control drought stress; MD1, Melatonin 50 µM + drought stress; MD2, Melatonin 100 µM + drought stress; MD3, Melatonin 150 µM + drought stress. Values are given as treatments mean ± SD (standard deviation and n = 3). The different small letters in each column indicate significant difference across the treatments at p ≤ 0.05