Response of Zebrina pendula leaves to enhanced UV-B radiation

Plants inevitably receive harmful UV-B radiation when exposed to solar energy, so they have developed a variety of strategies to protect against UV-B radiation damage during long-term evolution. In this study, Zebrina pendulaSchnizl. was used to investigate the plant defence against UV-B radiation because of its strong adaptability to sunlight changes, and the colour of its leaves changes significantly under different sunlight intensities. The experiment was carried out to study the changes of Z. pendula leaves under three light conditions: artificial daylight (control check); shading 50%; and artificial daylight + UV-B, aiming to explore the mechanism of defence against UV-B radiation by observing changes in leaf morphological structure, anthocyanin content and distribution. Results showed that the single leaf area increased but leaves became thinner, and the anthocyanin content in the epidermal cells decreased under 50% shading. In contrast, under daylight + UV-B, the single leaf area decreased but thickness increased (mainly due to the increase of the thickness of the upper epidermis and the palisade tissue), the trichomes increased. In addition, the anthocyanin content in the epidermal cells and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity increased, and the leaf colour became redder, also, the photosynthetic pigment content in mesophyll cells and the biomass per unit volume increased significantly under daylight + UV-B. Thus, when UV-B radiation was enhanced, Z. pendula leaves reduced the exposure to UV-B radiation by reducing the area, and reflect some UV-B radiation by growing trichomes. The UV-B transmittance was effectively reduced by increasing the single leaf thickness and anthocyanin content to block or absorb partial UV-B. Through the above comprehensive defence strategies, Z. pendula effectively avoided the damage of UV-B radiation to mesophyll tissue.