Flavonols Protect Arabidopsis Plants against UV-B Deleterious Effects

EMILIANI J.; ERICH GROTEWOLD; MARÍA LORENA FALCONE-FERREYRA; PAULA CASATI

MOLECULAR PLANT

OXFORD UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Oxford; Año: 2013 p. 1376 - 1379

1674-2052

Flavonoids are specialized compounds widely distributed with diverse functions throughout the plant kingdom. Particularly, flavonols, synthesized by flavonol synthase (FLS), are involved in the regulation of the auxin transport and are essential for male fertility in maize and other plants. In addition, although a role of flavonols in UV-B protection has been inferred, the protection conferred by the flavonols on the target sites of UV-B-damage has not been directly proven in planta. In this work, we generated Arabidopsis transgenic plants expressing ZmFLS1, which have increased levels of flavonols, and evaluated the susceptibility of these plants against UV-B damage. DNA damage accumulation, photosynthetic activities, membrane damage and inhibition of primary root elongation assessed after the UV-B treatment indicated that the transgenic plants have an increased protection against UV-B. Consequently, we here demonstrate that flavonols in fact protect plants against UV-B damage, and  this protection can be achieved by acting as UV-B filters and ROS scavengers. Interestingly, transgenic plants with high level of flavonols, mainly kaempferol, exhibited developmental phenotypes consistent  with altered auxin distribution.