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Histological and biochemical response of Norway spruce somatic embryos to UV-B irradiation

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Abstract

Key message

The results of this study indicate the roles of polyamines and phenylpropanoids in the prevention of oxidative damage provoked by UV-B treatment.

Abstract

Plants respond to UV-B exposure by synthesizing a broad range of secondary metabolites, including ROS-scavenging antioxidants and UV-B screening phenylpropanoids. Our recent results indicated that the accumulation of higher levels of polyamines in fully developed somatic embryos of Norway spruce may be causally linked to better tolerance of UV-B irradiation. In the present work, we concentrated primarily on changes in phenolics and their localization in irradiated embryos. Somatic embryos, after 14 days of desiccation, were exposed to 6 W m−2 h−1 of 312 nm UV-B radiation. The accumulation of higher levels of spermidine and spermine (by about 20%) and total phenolics (about 25%) in these embryos indicates their participation in stress response. Histological localization of polyphenolic compounds was performed under a transmission light microscope. UV-B radiation elicited the accumulation of polyphenolics in the junction zone between root cap and hypocotyl and in the epidermal and subepidermal cells of hypocotyl and cotyledons. The deposition of polyphenolics in intact epidermal cells which were located in the neighbourhood of damaged cells may demonstrate that there is potential for transmission of a signal from injured cells to tissues protected against the direct effects of UV-B irradiation. UV-B irradiation evoked striking polyphenolic accumulation in specialized idioblastic cells localized beneath the epidermis of the somatic embryo hypocotyl and cotyledons. The fluorescence due to flavonoids, detected under confocal laser scanning microscope, increased dramatically after UV-B irradiation in the epidermis of the hypocotyl and cotyledons and in the surface of the root cap of spruce somatic embryos.

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Abbreviations

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

PAs:

Polyamines

Put:

Putrescine

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

Spd:

Spermidine

Spm:

Spermine

UV-B:

Ultraviolet-B radiation

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Acknowledgements

We thank Sees-editing Ltd. for linguistic editing. This work was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Projects COST No. LD13050 and COST No. LD13051).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Experimental Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Rozvojová 263, 165 02, Praha 6-Lysolaje, Czech Republic

    Kateřina Eliášová, Zuzana Vondráková, Jiří Malbeck, Alena Trávníčková, Bedřich Pešek, Martin Vágner & Milena Cvikrová

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  1. Kateřina Eliášová
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  2. Zuzana Vondráková
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  3. Jiří Malbeck
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  4. Alena Trávníčková
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  5. Bedřich Pešek
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  6. Martin Vágner
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  7. Milena Cvikrová
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Correspondence to Milena Cvikrová.

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Additional information

Communicated by I. Porth.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

468_2017_1547_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Online resource S1: LC/MS analysis of glycoside-bound methanol-soluble phenolic acids (F4) extracted from untreated somatic embryos and embryos on the 7th day after UV-B irradiation (PDF 276 kb)

468_2017_1547_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Online resource S2: Detail of polyphenolic deposits in cells of root cap of UV-B irradiated spruce somatic embryo (PDF 562 kb)

468_2017_1547_MOESM3_ESM.pdf

Online resource S3: Detail of polyphenolic deposits in epidermal cells of the hypocotyl of UV-B irradiated spruce somatic embryo (PDF 464 kb)

468_2017_1547_MOESM4_ESM.pdf

Online resource S4: Detail of polyphenolic deposits in epidermal cells of the junction zone between the hypocotyl and root cap of UV-B irradiated spruce somatic embryo (PDF 391 kb)

468_2017_1547_MOESM5_ESM.pdf

Online resource S5: Polyphenolic deposits in epidermal cells of UV-B irradiated spruce somatic embryo (an overview) (PDF 379 kb)

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Eliášová, K., Vondráková, Z., Malbeck, J. et al. Histological and biochemical response of Norway spruce somatic embryos to UV-B irradiation. Trees 31, 1279–1293 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-017-1547-1

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