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Plant Ecology

Abstract

This chapter is dedicated to the significance of visible light and ultraviolet (UV)-B radiation for plant life. The dual role of radiation in the visible range as an energy source for photosynthesis, and as a signal for the control of a plant’s development, is the focus of the first part of the chapter. Acclimation to the ever-changing light environment is explained, addressing ultrastructural, physiological and molecular aspects. We discuss light stress caused by overexcitation, the emergence of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the functioning of ROS-scavenging systems, as well as other protective mechanisms such as non-photochemical quenching. Several photoreceptors (phytochromes, cryptochromes, phototropins), each class specific for a particular range of the visible spectrum and connected to overlapping signal transduction cascades, cooperate in the regulation of growth and other developmental processes of a plant. The second major topic of this chapter is UV-B radiation. Following a discussion of damage caused by UV-B, repair mechanisms and the avoidance of UV-B stress by chemical screening are described. Both UV-B stress responses and developmental processes are triggered by UV-B receptors, whose biochemistry and association with signalling chains are discussed. Finally, the crosstalk between UV-B and visible light responses, which is based on the multifunctionality of regulator proteins, is presented.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Jena, Germany

    Ernst-Detlef Schulze

  2. Department of Plant Physiology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Erwin Beck & Stephan Clemens

  3. Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Nina Buchmann

  4. Department of Biogeography, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany

    Klaus Müller-Hohenstein

  5. Chair of Geobotany, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Michael Scherer-Lorenzen

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  1. Ernst-Detlef Schulze
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  2. Erwin Beck
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  3. Nina Buchmann
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  4. Stephan Clemens
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  5. Klaus Müller-Hohenstein
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  6. Michael Scherer-Lorenzen
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Schulze, ED., Beck, E., Buchmann, N., Clemens, S., Müller-Hohenstein, K., Scherer-Lorenzen, M. (2019). Light. In: Plant Ecology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-56233-8_3

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