Short-term responses of barley to changes in ambient levels of UV-B radiation and their role in UV protection

Abstract

While many studies have evaluated the chronic effects of exposure to enhanced levels of UV-B radiation on plants very few studies have evaluated the implications of plant development within a background of fluctuating levels of UV-B radiation. Much interest and concern surround the issue of stratospheric ozone depletion and concurrent increases in UV-B radiation and this remains a concern. However, variation in UV-B levels on a daily basis is largely due to cloud cover and tropospheric air quality as well as possible effects of fluctuations in the total ozone column. Therefore the importance of the effects of short-term changes in UV-B radiation is not predicated on the assumption of continued ozone destruction. In this study we evaluated to change in foliar phenolic composition in barley and the consequences of changes in these putative protection compounds on subsequent sensitivity to UV-V radiation. The UV-B exposure levels ranges from less than 1 to nearly 8 kJ m-2 of biologically weighted UV-B radiation. Barley plants that developed under height ambient levels of UV-B radiation had higher levels of phenolics than control plants grown under the same conditions except with UV-B excluded. Those plants with higher phenolic content show some degree of increased protection from subsequent levels of UV-B as evidenced by less damage to DNA. However, it was also found that other environmental factors contributed to the induction of foliar screening compounds.