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Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Short daily ultraviolet exposure enhances intrinsic water-use efficiency and delays senescence in Micro-Tom tomato plants

Alessia Mannucci A , Andrea Scartazza B , Antonietta Santaniello C , Antonella Castagna https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6481-4570 A * , Marco Santin A , Mike Frank Quartacci A and Annamaria Ranieri A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Pisa, Pisa, PI, Italy.

B Institute of Research on Terrestrial Ecosystems, National Research Council, Pisa, PI, Italy.

C Valagro S.p.A., Atessa, CH, Italy.

* Correspondence to: antonella.castagna@unipi.it

Handling Editor: Frans Maathuis

Functional Plant Biology 49(9) 810-821 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP22013
Submitted: 21 January 2022  Accepted: 2 May 2022   Published: 23 May 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation, unless present at high doses, is recognised as a regulator of plant growth and some specific processes. The present study investigated the influence of short daily UV irradiation (15 min/day, 11 days) on leaf gas exchange and some biochemical and molecular markers of leaf senescence (such as stomata movements, chlorophyll breakdown, anthocyanin production, senescence-associated genes) in Micro-Tom tomato plants. The UV-induced reduction of gs (stomatal conductance) during the treatment was associated with the modified expression of some genes involved in the control of stomatal movements. We hypothesise a two-step regulation of stomatal closure involving salicylic and abscisic acid hormones. The temporal changes of gs and Anet (net photosynthetic CO2 assimilation rate) along with the pigment behaviour, suggest a possible delay of leaf senescence in treated plants, confirmed by the expression levels of genes related to senescence such as SAG113 and DFR. The UV potential to induce a persistent partial inhibition of gs without severely affecting Anet led to an increased iWUE (intrinsic water-use efficiency) during the 11-day treatment, suggesting a priming effect of short daily UV radiation towards drought conditions potentially useful in reducing the excess water use in agriculture.

Keywords: gas-exchange parameters, leaves, pigment concentration, senescence, stomatal conductance, tomato, UV radiation, water-use efficiency.


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