It is predicted that atmospheric CO2 concentration will rise globally to 550 ppm in the middle of the present century and double in the end of the century but is accompanied by major fluctuations in both temperature and water supply. The challenge is how and why some genotypes are able to cope with multiple stress. Melatonin is a well-known hormone associated with diurnal regulations in plants and animals. We aim to use both wild and cultivated genotypes of tomato to study the roles of melatonin to clarify how it affects the responses to elevated CO2 and combined stress (heat, drought). The physiological, metabolic and genetic responses will help us understand the potential functions of melatonin. It is our hypothesis that melatonin might alleviate the detrimental effects of some stresses and facilitate the recovery by photosynthesis and antioxidant capacity. This will provide understanding of the hormonal effect on the sensitivity to the complex effects of global climate changes.

Funding: Aarhus University AUFF grants

Collaborator: Prof. Carl-Otto Ottosen, Prof. Bernd Wollenweber from Aarhus University and Prof. Xiangnan Li from Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, China