Investigation of some physiological and chemical changes in shoots and leaves caused by UV-C radiation as an abiotic stress source in grapevine cuttings

Abstract

In this study, UV-C was applied to the cuttings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc cv.’s at three different durations to simulate abiotic stress, with subsequent monitoring of resultant changes upon the formation of at least six leaves. In both grape varieties, total phenolic compounds and antioxidant capacity in leaves reached the highest levels after 60 min of UV-C treatment. Trans-resveratrol content reached its highest level with an increase of 157 %. The activity of superoxide dismutase enzyme reached its highest level with an increase of 630 %, especially in Cabernet Franc. Total chlorophyll, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b contents reached their highest levels after 60 min of UV-C treatment. UV-C treatments did not affect shoot number. However, parameters such as fresh and dry shoot weight, shoot length, fresh and dry root weight reached their highest levels after 45 min of UV-C stress. In correlation analysis, the highest correlation was found between trans-resveratrol and chlorophyll b. In principal component analysis, 6 min of UV-C stress had the highest loading on component 1 and 45 min of UV-C stress had the highest loading on component 2. These results suggest that UV-C treatment may be a potential method to improve grape quality and plant health by inducing important physiological responses in grapevines. This is the first study to investigate the effects of UV-C treatment on grapevine cuttings.