Abstract
Coleus cultivars differed in their response to enhanced levels of UV-B. With 80% or greater increase in biologically effective radiation, some distorted leaves developed, anthocyanin pigmentation was decreased, and absorbance at several peaks in the UV region increased. Coleus was less sensitive during seasons of high ambient photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) than during low PAR suggesting photorepair was a factor in the response. None showed a response in height, number of nodes, fresh weight, or dry weight.
Abstract
Treatment of greenhouse-grown eggplant (Solanum melongena L. var. esculentum Nees. ‘Burpee's Black Beauty’) seedlings with supplemental photosynthetically active radiation from cool-white fluorescent lamps increased growth of plants subsequently transferred outdoors relative to growth of plants that received no supplemental radiation or were shaded to 45 % of solar irradiation in the greenhouse before transfer outdoors. Eggplant seedlings transferred outdoors were placed under plastic tarps either to provide relative protection from solar ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation (280-315 nm) using Mylar film or to allow exposure to UV-B using cellulose acetate. Protection of seedlings from UV-B radiation resulted in greater leaf expansion than for UV-B-exposed seedlings, but no change in leaf or shoot dry weight occurred after 9 days of treatment. Specific leaf weight increased in response to UV-B exposure outdoors. Exposure of eggplant to UV-B radiation from fluorescent sunlamps in the greenhouse also decreased leaf expansion and leaf and shoot dry weight gain after 5 days of treatment. However, there were no differences in leaf or shoot dry weight relative to control plants after 12 days of UV-B treatment, indicating that UV-B treated plants had acclimated to the treatment and actually had caught up with non-UV-B-irradiated plants in terms of growth.
Abstract
Groups of poinsettia plants (Euphorbia pulcherrima willd. ex Klutzsch) were exposed at different seasons to enhanced levels of ultraviolet (280-320 nm) radiation, 01-13 weighted m W m−2 (UV-B), for 4 weeks in both vegetative and flowering growth stages. None of the cultivars showed any response in height, number of nodes, fresh weight, or dry weight. Some distorted leaves and bracts developed during the seasons of low light intensity but not during seasons of high light intensity, suggesting photorepair during the latter periods. The anthocyanin pigmentation produced in the bracts of flowering plants was partially destryoed by enhanced UV-B, whereas in vegetative plants the pigmentation in petioles was increased. Bracts from many of the treated plants showed increased absorbance in the UV-A and UV-B regions. Cultivars differed widely in their response to enhanced UV-B.
The influence of ambient UV radiation on growth, chlorosis, and flavonoid content was examined in four cultivars of cucumber (`Ashley', `Poinsett', `Marketmore', and `Salad Bush'). Plants were grown from seed in UV exclusion chambers consisting of UV transmitting plexiglass (10% T, 285 nm), lined with 3- or 5-mil Llumar (10% T, 399 or 404 nm) to exclude UV-A and UV-B, 5-mil polyester (10%T, 319 nm) to exclude UVB, or cellulose acetate (10% T, 291 nm) to transmit UV-A and UV-B. Plants were grown in 15 cm plastic pots containing vermiculite and were fertilized daily with nutrient solution. Despite their differential sensitivity to supplemental UV-B radiation, all four cultivars responded similarly to the exclusion treatments. After 19 to 21 days, plants grown under ambient UV-A and UV-B generally had less stem, leaf, and root biomass and less total height and total leaf area than those grown under conditions in which UV-A and UV-B or only UV-B was excluded. Flavonoid content, leaf number, and floral development were unaffected by UV. These findings demonstrate the extreme sensitivity of cucumber to current levels of solar UV radiation.
The effect of UV-B fluorescent lamp light on seedling elongation was investigated using three species: marigold (Tagetes sp.), cucumber (Cucumis sativa), and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). Seedlings were exposed to light supplied from two unshielded and unfiltered 40-watt UV-B fluorescent lamps. In two experiments, seedlings were placed a distance of 45 cm below the light for varying lengths of time, while seedlings were placed 60 cm below the light in a third experiment. For marigold, seedlings were shorter when germinated under the UV-B lamp than when germinated under natural light in a glasshouse. Two hours of exposure just after glasshouse germination (cotyledons unfolded) was effective in reducing height of cucumber seedlings, whereas 6 hours was required to significantly reduce the height of tomato seedlings. Treatments were still effective when the last measurements were taken 12 to 14 days after germination. Exposure of seedlings to UV-B lamp light provides a possible alternative means of preventing excessive seedling elongation instead of relying on chemical plant growth regulators.
Ultraviolet-B [UV-B (280-320 nm)] radiation is one of the major factors causing quality decline of transplanted sod. Pigments and antioxidants are associated with plant stress resistance, but their roles in turfgrass tolerance to UV-B damage are not well understood. The objectives of this study were to determine if kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) cultivars with darker green genetic leaf color possessed greater pigment and antioxidant defense capacities and if such characteristics were associated with greater resistance to UV-B. Two cultivars, `Moonlight' (dark green) and `Limerick' (light green), were selected and subjected to continuous, artificial UV-B radiation (70 μmol·m-2·s-1). UV-B irradiation reduced turf quality by 58% (`Moonlight') and 77% (`Limerick') relative to day 1 when measured 10 days after initiation of UV-B exposure. Higher canopy photochemical efficiency (PEc) was found in `Moonlight' relative to `Limerick' under UV-B stress and during recovery. `Moonlight' contained greater levels of chlorophyll (1.5 to1.6-fold), carotenoids (1.3-fold), superoxide dismutase [SOD (1.0-fold)] and catalase [CAT (1.5-fold)] than `Limerick' when measured at 10 days after UV-B initiation. Turfgrass quality and PEc were positively correlated with pigments (chlorophyll and carotenoids) and antioxidant enzymes (SOD and CAT), and negatively correlated with lipid peroxidation. The results suggest that selecting dark-green cultivars with greater pigment content and antioxidant activity may be an effective approach for turfgrass breeders and sod producers to improve tolerance of newly transplanted sod to environments with higher UV-B radiation.
UV-B (UV) induced changes in PAL activity and UV-absorbing compounds were followed in cotton after 1 to 9 days and in cucumber after 1 to 14 days. UV increased PAL activity in the lower hypocotyl (LH) of cotton but had no effect on the upper portion. In general, PAL decreased with time, but UV treatment slowed that decline in the LH portion. Anthocyanin concentration declined with time in both portions. In cucumber cotyledons, UV had no effect on PAL. In cucumber leaves, there was no overall effect of UV; but there were significant interactions with time. In both cotyledons and in leaves, PAL decreased with time. As in LH cotton tissue, UV slowed the rate of decline of PAL in cucumber leaves. In leaves, UV absorbing compounds (at 330 nm) were increased by UV; in cotyledons, the increase in absorption was greater in controls than in UV-B irradiated seedlings. In cotton, changes in anthocyanins mirrored those in PAL, this was not the case for UV absorbing compounds in either species.
Blueberry fruits (Vaccinium ashie Read) of two cultivars, `Delite' and `Woodard', were hand-picked twice during the growing season (15 June and 1 July) to study the benefits of UV-B irradiance on postharvest fruit quality. After precooling, healthy, disease-free, uniform fruits were selected and exposed to UV-B irradiance (180 to 310 nm) for 24 h under cold conditions. The fruits were then kept at 2–3 °C and 90% to 95% relative humidity for 2 weeks before determining their quality parameters. Irradiated fruits were softer, wrinkled, and non-marketable compared to non-irradiated berries. UV-B had no beneficial effects on fruit quality or storability.
In order to determine whether the concentration of floral petal anthocyanin pigments could be increased, ultraviolet radiations in the UV-A and UV-B wavelength bands were presented to a variety of flowering plants to partly restore those wavelengths filtered out by greenhouse glass. In no tested plant did the supplementary ultraviolet radiation enhance floral anthocyanin content. Supplementary UV radiation has no economic value in greenhouse production of flowering plants.
exposure to wavelengths in the ultraviolet (UV-A 400–320 nm/UV-B 320–290 nm/UV-C 290–100 nm) range ( Kerr and McElroy, 1993 ). The UV-B wavelengths that contact the earth’s surface are predicted to increase in springtime radiation by 50% to 60% from 2010 to