Exogenous Stilbenes Improved Tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana to a Shock of Ultraviolet B Radiation

Abstract

Excessive ultraviolet B (UV-B) irradiation is one of the most serious threats leading to severe crop production losses. It is known that secondary metabolite biosynthesis plays an important role in plant defense and forms a protective shield against excessive UV-B irradiation. The contents of stilbenes and other plant phenolics are known to sharply increase after UV-B irradiation, but there is little direct evidence for the involvement of stilbenes and other plant phenolics in plant UV-B protection. This study showed that foliar application of trans-resveratrol (1 and 5 mM) and trans-piceid (5 mM) considerably increased tolerance to a shock of UV-B (10 min at 1800 µW cm−2 of irradiation intensity) of four-week-old Arabidopsis thaliana plants that are naturally incapable of stilbene production. Application of trans-resveratrol and trans-piceid increased the leaf survival rates by 1–2%. This stilbene-induced improvement in UV-B tolerance was higher than after foliar application of the stilbene precursors, p-coumaric and trans-cinnamic acids (only 1–3%), but less than that after treatment with octocrylene (19–24%), a widely used UV-B absorber. Plant treatment with trans-resveratrol increased expression of antioxidant and stress-inducible genes in A.thaliana plants and decreased expression of DNA repair genes. This study directly demonstrates an important positive role of stilbenes in plant tolerance to excessive UV-B irradiation, and offers a new approach for plant UV-B protection.

The Effect of External Treatment of Arabidopsis thaliana with Plant-Derived Stilbene Compounds on Plant Resistance to Abiotic Stresses

“…Identification of all compounds was performed using a 1260 Infinity analytical high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC system) (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, USA), coupled to a Bruker HCT ultra PTM Discovery System (Bruker Daltonik GmbH, Bremen, Germany), equipped with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source. Data for all components of extracts were acquired in negative ions mode under the operating conditions as described [ 62 , 63 ]. All determined components of the extracts were identified as described [ 63 ] on the base of UV spectra, recorded with a DAD detector, mass spectral data, and chromatographic separation with reference to the values of their respective standards.…”

“…Data for all components of extracts were acquired in negative ions mode under the operating conditions as described [ 62 , 63 ]. All determined components of the extracts were identified as described [ 63 ] on the base of UV spectra, recorded with a DAD detector, mass spectral data, and chromatographic separation with reference to the values of their respective standards. The contents of each component were determined by using the external standard method using the five-point regression calibration curves built with the reference standards.…”

Trends in the Potential of Stilbenes to Improve Plant Stress Tolerance: Insights of Plant Defense Mechanisms in Response to Biotic and Abiotic Stressors

“…In terms of practical applications of stilbenes against UV radiation, the foliar application of trans-resveratrol and transpiceid significantly increased the tolerance to a shock of UV-B given to 4 weeks old Arabidopsis thaliana plants that are naturally incapable of stilbene production. 61 At the molecular level, the overexpression of genes related to stilbene synthesis significantly increased plant tolerance to UV-B and UV-C. 62 The overexpression of the STS29 gene in grapes resulted in a decrease in H 2 O 2 content with changes in gene expression related to the redox process, stilbene biosynthesis, and light stimulation. 63 2.2.4.…”

“…In terms of practical applications of stilbenes against UV radiation, the foliar application of trans -resveratrol and trans -piceid significantly increased the tolerance to a shock of UV-B given to 4 weeks old Arabidopsis thaliana plants that are naturally incapable of stilbene production . At the molecular level, the overexpression of genes related to stilbene synthesis significantly increased plant tolerance to UV-B and UV-C .…”

“…Conventional synthetic UV filters are causing global public health problems for the environment and humans; safer sunscreens are required as alternatives. Improvement in UV-B tolerance induced by stilbenes and its precursors was found to be lower than that of the widely used UV-B absorber, octocrylene (19–24%), which limited the application range and effect of stilbenes and its precursors. An emulsion containing 35% stilbene glucosides extracted from spruce crude has been used as a natural UV-protective additive to sunscreens, and the emulsion alone provided UV protection equal to half the efficiency of commercial sun protection factor (SPF) 15 sun lotions .…”