Effects of Ultraviolet-B Radiation in Plant Physiology

Abstract

Over the past few decades, anthropogenic activities contributed to the depletion of the ozone layer, which increased the levels of solar ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation reaching the Earth`s surface. Generally, UV-B is harmful to all living organisms. It damages the cell`s Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), proteins, and lipids, and as a consequence, it affects the bio-membranes negatively. In this review, we summarize the major effects of UV-B in the plant`s main molecules and physiological reactions, in addition to the possible defence mechanisms against UV-B including accumulating UV-B absorbing pigments to alleviate the harmful impact of UV-B.

Perspective on the influence of ultraviolet radiations in plant growth and development

“…There are already abundant reports showing that leaf area, size, or structure is decreased by UV-B (Barnes et al, 1996;Nogues et al, 1998;Cooley et al, 2001;Kakani et al, 2003b;Wargent et al, 2009;Kataria, Guruprasad, 2012b;Klem et al, 2012;Zhang et al, 2012;Fina et al, 2017;Rai, Agrawal, 2017;Rana, Abdulkarim, 2021). With the addition of UV-B rays, reduction of leaf size was mainly associated with the reduced epidermal cell size Jacque et al, 2011), increased cell wall peroxidase activity, and collateral decrease in the number of cells (Wargent et al, 2009).…”