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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Enhancement of nodulation in bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) by UV-B irradiation

Manuel E. Pinto, Gerald E. Edwards, Alejandro A. Riquelme and Maurice S. B. Ku

Functional Plant Biology 29(10) 1189 - 1196
Published: 18 October 2002

Abstract

Exposure of bean plants grown in the greenhouse, where UV-B is low, to ambient levels of UV-B light stimulated nodulation more than 2.5-fold. Reduction of UV-B radiation to 3% of ambient levels for outdoor-grown plants through use of Mylar filters consistently reduced nodulation by 45%. The increase in nodulation caused by UV-B was mainly due to an increase in number and size of nodules. The amounts of UV-B-absorbing compounds in roots of UV-B-exposed plants increased almost 5-fold. However, the composition of UV-B-absorbing compounds remained very similar. Exposing leaves to UV-B also significantly increased release of these compounds from roots to the medium. These results suggest that UV-B radiation enhances nodulation, and that a signal may be transported from shoot to roots to play a role in nodulation.

Keywords: bean, nodulation, Phaseolus vulgaris L., UV-B radiation.

https://doi.org/10.1071/FP02012

© CSIRO 2002

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