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- Title
Ultraviolet radiation changes plant color.
- Authors
Valenta, Kim; Dimac-Stohl, Kristin; Baines, Frances; Smith, Todd; Piotrowski, Greg; Hill, Norman; Kuppler, Jonas; Nevo, Omer
- Abstract
Background: Plant absorption of ultraviolet (UV) radiation can result in multiple deleterious effects to plant tissues. As a result, plants have evolved an array of strategies to protect themselves from UV radiation, particularly in the UV-B range (280–320 nm). A common plant response to UV exposure is investment in phenolic compounds that absorb damaging wavelengths of light. However, the inverse phenomenon – plant reflectance of UV to protect plant tissues – has not previously been explored. In a paired experiment, we expose half of our sample (N = 108) of insect-pollinated plants of the cultivar Zinnia Profusion Series to UV radiation, and protect the other half from all light < 400 nm for 42 days, and measure leaf and flower reflectance using spectroscopy. We compare UV-B reflectance in leaves and flowers at the beginning of the experiment or flowering, and after treatment. Results: We find that plants protected from UV exposure downregulate UV-B reflectance, and that plants exposed to increased levels of UV show trends of increased UV-B reflectance. Conclusions: Our results indicate that upregulation of UV-B reflecting pigments or structures may be a strategy to protect leaves against highly energetic UV-B radiation.
- Subjects
ULTRAVIOLET radiation; COLOR of plants; MARKET exposure (Investments); PLANT cells &; tissues; REFLECTANCE spectroscopy; PHENOLS
- Publication
BMC Plant Biology, 2020, Vol 20, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
1471-2229
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1186/s12870-020-02471-8