Figure 8.

Schematic representation of melatonin in the mitigation of chilling-induced oxidative stress and chilling-induced photosynthesis inhibition in tomato plants. Exogenous melatonin enhances the accumulation of melatonin, which promotes the antioxidant capacity of tomato leaves, thus reducing the chilling-induced oxidative stress. Melatonin-mediated reduction in oxidative stress is advantageous to photosystem II (light reaction) and the Calvin–Benson cycle (dark reaction), thereby favoring photosynthesis under chilling stress. In contrast, silencing TDC suppresses melatonin biosynthesis and thus aggravates chilling-induced oxidative stress, leading to inhibited photosynthesis in tomato plants.