Siirt Üniversitesi, Ziraat Fakültesi, Tarla Bitkileri Bölümü, Siirt
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the effects of melatonin and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on the growth and development of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seedlings. The Arda cultivar was used as plant material, and the experiment was arranged in a factorial design with three replications. Three melatonin doses (0, 200, and 400 µM) and four bacterial treatments (control, KF3A, KF36B, and KF57A) were evaluated. At the end of the experiment, shoot and root thickness and length, fresh and dry weights, seedling vigor index, shoot/root fresh and dry weight ratios, and total dry matter ratio were determined. The corresponding values ranged between 1.317–1.727 mm, 0.994–1.453 mm, 18.23–25.55 cm, 15.18–22.50 cm, 1.063–1.804 g, 1.005–1.655 g, 0.119–0.226 g, 0.036–0.079 g, 5.18–14.34, 1.050–1.096, 2.779–3.328, and 7.458–9.020%, respectively. Overall, 200 µM melatonin was the most effective dose, while KF57A and KF36B enhanced seedling growth. In particular, 200 µM × KF57A improved root development and fresh biomass, whereas 200 µM × KF36B promoted dry matter accumulation and seedling vigor. Field trials are recommended to validate these findings.
UÇAR, Özge. (2026). Effects of Melatonin and Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria (PGPR) on Growth and Development of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Seedlings. ISPEC Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 10(3), 1067–1080. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22929878
📄Abdul-Baki, A.A., Anderson, J.D., 1973. Vigor determination in soybean seed by multiple criteria. Crop Science, 13(6): 630–633.
📄Açıkgöz, N., Açıkgöz, N., 2001. Common mistakes in the statistical analyzes of agricultural experiments I. Single factorials, ANADOLU Journal of Aegean Agricultural Research Institute, 11(1): 135-147.
📄Ahemad, M., Kibret, M., 2014. Mechanisms and applications of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria: Current perspective. Journal of King Saud University–Science, 26(1): 1–20.
📄Ahmad, I., Song, X., Hussein Ibrahim, M.E., Jamal, Y., Younas, M.U., Zhu, G., Zhou, G., Adam Ali, A.Y., 2023. The role of melatonin in plant growth and metabolism, and its interplay with nitric oxide and auxin in plants under different types of abiotic stress. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14: 1108507.
📄Aktaş, Y., Toğay, N., 2022. The effects of iron and phosphorus applications on the yield and yield components in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). ISPEC Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 6(2): 331–339.
📄Arnao, M.B., 2014. Phytomelatonin: Discovery, content, and role in plants. Advances in Botany, 2014: Article 815769.
📄Arnao, M.B., Hernández-Ruiz, J., 2015. Functions of melatonin in plants: A review. Journal of Pineal Research, 59(2): 133–150.
📄Backer, R., Rokem, J.S., Ilangumaran, G., Lamont, J., Praslickova, D., Ricci, E., Subramanian, S., Smith, D.L., 2018. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria: Context, mechanisms of action, and roadmap to commercialization of biostimulants for sustainable agriculture. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9: 1473.
📄Begum, N., Khan, Q.U., Liu, L., Li, W., Liu, D., Haq, I.U., 2023. Nutritional composition, health benefits and bio-active compounds of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Frontiers in Nutrition, 10: 1218468.
📄Dadaşoğlu, E., Turan, M., Ekinci, M., Argın, S., Yıldırım, E., 2022. Alleviation mechanism of melatonin in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under salt stress conditions. Horticulturae, 8(11): 1066.
📄Egamberdieva, D., Wirth, S.J., Shurigin, V.V., Hashem, A., Abd-Allah, E.F., 2017. Endophytic bacteria improve plant growth, symbiotic performance of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and induce suppression of root rot caused by Fusarium solani under salt stress. Frontiers in Microbiology, 8: 1887.
📄El-Awadi, M.E., Dawood, M.G., Abdel-Baky, Y.R., Hassan, E.A., 2017. Physiological effect of melatonin, indole-3-acetic acid and their precursor on growth, yield and quality of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) grown under sandy soil conditions. Agricultural Engineering International: CIGR Journal, Special Issue: 35-44.
📄Fatima, I., Ahmad, M., Hussain, A., Alataway, A.Z., Dewidar, A.Z., Mattar, M.A., 2024. Enhancing chickpea growth through drought-tolerant bacterial strains isolated from the rhizosphere of Aerva javanica. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 61(1): 163–178.
📄Foyer, C.H., Nguyen, H.T., Lam, H.M., 2019. Legumes-The art and science of environmentally sustainable agriculture. Plant, Cell & Environment, 42(1): 1-5.
📄Gamalero, E., Glick, B.R., 2025. How melatonin affects plant growth and the associated microbiota. Biology, 14(4): 371.
📄İpekeşen, S., Biçer, B., 2021. The effect of fertilization on plant and agricultural traits of chickpeas. ISPEC Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 5(2): 320–332.
📄Jindal, P., Kant, K., Kaur, N., Gupta, S., Ali, A., Naeem, M., 2024. Melatonin: Discovery, biosynthesis, phytohormones crosstalk, and roles in agricultural crops under abiotic stress conditions. Environmental and Experimental Botany, 226: 105942.
📄Jukanti, A.K., Gaur, P.M., Gowda, C.L.L., Chibbar, R.N., 2012. Nutritional quality and health benefits of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.): A review. British Journal of Nutrition, 108(1): 11–26.
📄Lata, D.L., Abdie, O., Rezene, Y., 2024. IAA-producing bacteria from the rhizosphere of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.): Isolation, characterization, and their effects on plant growth performance. Heliyon, 10(21): e39702.
📄Mahto, R.K., Chandana, B.S., Singh, R.K., Kumar, A., Kumar, S., Yadav, R., Dey, D., Hamwieh, A., Kumar, R., 2025. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation for sustainable chickpea yield and prospects for genome editing in changing climatic situations. Frontiers in Plant Science, 16: 1621191.
📄Malgioglio, G., Rizzo, G.F., Nigro, S., Lefebvre du Prey, V., Herforth-Rahmé, J., Catara, V., Branca, F., 2022. Plant-microbe interaction in sustainable agriculture: the factors that may influence the efficacy of PGPM application. Sustainability, 14(4): 2253.
📄Mart, D., 2022. Characterization of Turkey local winter sown chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) populations using principal component analysis. ISPEC Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 6(2): 407–418.
📄Michałek, M., Ogrodowicz, P., Kempa, M., Kuczyńska, A., Mikołajczak, K., 2025. Melatonin in crop plants: from biosynthesis through pleiotropic effects to enhanced stress resilience. Journal of Applied Genetics, 66(3): 471-491.
📄Olanrewaju, O.S., Glick, B.R., Babalola, O.O., 2017. Mechanisms of action of plant growth promoting bacteria. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 33(11): 197.
📄Sakouhi, L., Kadri, O., Werghi, S., Ben Massoud, M., Kharbech, O., Murata, Y., Chaoui, A., 2023. Seed pretreatment with melatonin confers cadmium tolerance to chickpea seedlings through cellular redox homeostasis and antioxidant gene expression improvement. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(29): 73612–73627.
📄Shah, A., Nazari, M., Antar, M., Msimbira, L. A., Naamala, J., Lyu, D., Rabileh, M., Zajonc, J., Smith, D.L., 2021. PGPR in agriculture: A sustainable approach to increasing climate change resilience. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 5: 667546.
📄Shehzadi, K., Maqsood, M.F., Kanwal, R., Shahbaz, M., Naqve, M., Zulfiqar, U., Jamil, M., Khalid, N., Ali, M.F., Soufan, W., 2025. Enhancing cadmium stress resilience in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) via exogenous melatonin application. International Journal of Phytoremediation, 27(6): 794–809.
📄Soysal, S., Erman, M., 2020. Investigation of the effects of microbiological and inorganic fertilizers on the yield, yield components and nodulation of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) in the ecological conditions of Siirt. ISPEC Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 4(3): 649–670.
📄Sun, C., Liu, L., Wang, L., Li, B., Jin, C., Lin, X., 2021. Melatonin: A master regulator of plant development and stress responses. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 63(1): 126-145.
📄Swarnalakshmi, K., Rajkhowa, S., Pooniya, V., Annapurna, K., 2021. Endophytic bacteria improve mesorhizobial nodulation, plant growth and yield in chickpea (Cicer arietinum). Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 91(7): 22-26.
📄Verma, J.P., Yadav, J., Tiwari, K.N., Kumar, A., 2013. Effect of indigenous Mesorhizobium spp. and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria on yields and nutrients uptake of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under sustainable agriculture. Ecological Engineering, 51: 282-286.
📄Wang, H., Liu, R., You, M.P., Barbetti, M.J., Chen, Y., 2021. Pathogen biocontrol using plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPR): Role of bacterial diversity. Microorganisms, 9(9): 1988.
📄Zhang, N., Sun, Q., Zhang, H., Cao, Y., Weeda, S., Ren, S., Guo, Y.D., 2015. Roles of melatonin in abiotic stress resistance in plants. Journal of Experimental Botany, 66(3): 647–656.
