Active thermography for real time monitoring of UV-B plant interactions

• Published in: Journal of photochemistry and photobiology. B, Biology Vol. 208; p. 111900
• Main Authors: Rippa, M., Ambrosone, A., Leone, A., Mormile, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Elsevier B.V 01-07-2020; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Arabidopsis; Arabidopsis - growth & development; Arabidopsis - metabolism; Arabidopsis - radiation effects; Arabidopsis Proteins - genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins - metabolism; Araceae - growth & development; Araceae - metabolism; Araceae - radiation effects; Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone - deficiency; Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone - genetics; Chromosomal Proteins, Non-Histone - metabolism; Cooling; Cooling effects; Environmental monitoring; Irradiation; Land surface temperature; Leaves; Lock-in; Physiology; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plants; Plants, Genetically Modified - growth & development; Plants, Genetically Modified - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified - radiation effects; Real time; Real-time Monitoring; Temperature; Temporal variations; Thermal response; Thermography; Ultraviolet radiation; Ultraviolet Rays; UV-B; Lock-in; Real-time Monitoring; UV-B; Plants; Arabidopsis; Thermography
• ISSN: 1011-1344; 1873-2682
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.111900

Although Ultraviolet-B (UV-B)-plant interactions have been extensively analysed in the past years, many physiological aspects of the complex plant response mechanisms still need to be elucidated. Depending on the energy dose, this part of the electromagnetic spectrum can induce detrimental or beneficial effects in plant and fruit. In the present work, active thermography is used to analyse in real time the response of plants under different doses of artificial UV-B. In particular, we investigated the temporal variations of the leaf surface temperature (LST) to UV-B exposure by Long Pulse and Lock-in thermography in Epipremnum aureum and in Arabidopsis plants overexpressing or knockout mutants of UVR8, the known UV-B photoreceptor. In both cases, UV-B irradiation triggers a cooling effect, namely a thermal response characterised by a LST lower respect to the initial value. Lock-in thermography demonstrated that the cooling effect is associated with an immediate mobilization and accumulation of water in the leaves. Also, we demonstrated that thermographic responses change according to the different capability of plants to tolerate high UV-B radiation. Our study highlights new physiological and physical aspects of the plants response to UV-B radiation and, more in general, it opens new opportunities for the use of the thermography as smart tool for real-time monitoring of plant environmental interactions.
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•Active thermography reveals that UV-B irradiation triggers a leaf cooling effect.•UV-B irradiation determines water redistribution in leaves.•Thermal effects for different UV-B energy doses measured on E. aureum.•Sensing systems for a valid strategies to assess the physiological state of plants