Paclobutrazol enhances tolerance to increased levels of UV-B radiation in soybean (Glycine max) seedlings

Paclobutrazol increased the tolerance of soybean (Glycine max L. cv. AC Bravor) seedlings to elevated levels of ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B: 280 – 320 nm). Within 3 days of exposure to elevated UV-B, nontreated seedlings were photosynthetically less efficient, and by the end of the 11th day of treatment their leaf areas and fresh masses were, respectively, 55 and 44% smaller than their counterparts not irradiated with UV-B. In contrast, paclobutrazol-treated seedlings maintained full photosynthetic efficiency throughout the duration of UV-B irradiation, and their leaf areas and fresh masses were only reduced by 30 and 22%, respectively. No changes in flavonoid composition occurred as a result of the paclobutrazol or UV-B radiation treatments, but UV-B tended to increase the quantities of photosynthetic pigments. The leaves from paclobutrazol-treated seedlings were significantly thicker than those of nontreated seedlings, and SEM analyses showed that the treated seedlings had much denser epicuticular wax layers than the controls. No significant changes in protein expression occurred during exposure to elevated UV-B and (or) paclobutrazol. Further studies with paclobutrazol-treated plants may lead to a better understanding of one or more of the mechanisms employed by plants to tolerate elevated levels of UV-B. Key words: leaf fluorescence, paclobutrazol, pigments, protein synthesis, SEM, UV-B radiation.