The last few days saw the members of the UV4Plants Association gather in Göttingen, Germany for the 5th Network Meeting of the UV4Plants Association.

Natalie Cunningham, a PhD researcher from Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at UCC in Cork, presented her work on the effects of UV-B on the morphology of plants.

Professor Marcel Jansen presented his work on "Plants, plastics and UV-B". He explained how UV-mediated breakdown of plastics are having an unexpected yet important impact on plants.

The 2023 Report from UNEP EEAP is now published online.

This latest report is an update assessment, which this year has focused on "Plastics in the environment in the context of UV radiation, climate change and the Montreal Protocol". The report will be officially presented to governments around the world.

The 2022 Assessment Report on "Environmental Effects of Stratospheric Ozone Depletion, UV Radiation, and Interactions with Climate Change" has recently been published by UNEP. It has now been followed by an accompanying supplement: "Questions and Answers about the Effects of Ozone Depletion, UV Radiation, and Climate on Humans and the Environment" 

A new paper has been published in Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences, describing how plants exposed to a low dose of UV irradiance can alleviate drought effect caused by a change in humidity.

On 17 and 18 April 2023 the UV4Pigments conference will take place in Szekszárd in Hungary.

The small, discussion-intensive workshop, organised by the UV4Plants Association, will focus on the effects of solar and artificial UV radiation on pigments in plants.

A new paper published in the journal Agronomy explains that exposing Mentha spicata (L.) plants to UV-B radiation while growing in tissue culture containers, changes the architecture of the plants. These changes were associated with significant alterations in concentrations of several hormones, indicating a regulatory rather than a stress response to UV-B.

Check out our new study on UV interaction with carotenoid in plants which was today published in the journal Biomolecules:

Badmus, U.O.; Crestani, G.; Cunningham, N.; Havaux, M.; Urban, O.; Jansen, M.A.K. UV Radiation Induces Specific Changes in the Carotenoid Profile of Arabidopsis thaliana. Biomolecules 2022, 12, 1879.

https://doi.org/10.3390/biom12121879

Our multi-discipline research project has successfully developed a lighting system to replace the nutritional value lost when plant food is grown indoors, away from UV light.

University College Cork (UCC) has announced that the collaborative project, funded by Science Foundation Ireland, has evaluated innovative UV-LED systems in plant growth trials and is currently looking for potential partners from commercial horticulture to further develop this UV technology.

UV-B induced accumulation of tocopherol in Arabidopsis thaliana is not dependent on individual UV photoreceptors

Tocopherol is recognised in human nutrition as vitamin E, an important component of a healthy diet.

This paper reports on our research that shows that tocopherols are increased in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana when exposed to increased levels of UV-B. Increased levels of tocopherols are shown to play a role in UV protection of the plant. However, the accumulation of tocopherols is independent of the photoreceptor activated.

Highlights

• The application of UV-B radiation results in dynamic changes in tocopherol accumulation of plants.
• UV-B exposure led to the accumulation of tocopherol in a photoreceptor-independent manner.
• The accumulation of tocopherol is an important part of plant UV protection.

The full paper (OPEN ACCESS) can be found in the journal Plant Stress at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stress.2022.100105

Those of us lucky enough to have holidayed in the Mediterranean may recall the strong, fragrant smell of wild rosemary or thyme growing on a sun drenched, rocky coast. Indeed, the link between sun exposure and crop quality is well known and marketed through concepts such as “sun ripened tomatoes”. So, is there any truth in sun ripened crops having a better aroma, colour and overall flavour, and can we, based at more northerly latitudes, improve our crops to capture that Mediterranean feel?

Our project aims to improve crop lighting to better reflect natural sunlight, and using the benefits of light to improve the crop's colour, flavour and plant architecture.

If you are interested in our project, contact us

Our latest blog post is published today:

Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but luckily, it can be transformed.

The 4th Network meeting of the UV4Plants Association is planned for 3 - 6 July 2022 in Kraków, Poland.

A special issue of Physiologia Plantarum on "Plants and UV-B radiation" has been published.

A new blog post: While important secondary metabolites in our plant-based food can be enhanced by the use of (UV) light, it remains unclear how well these nutritional food components are absorbed in our body.

Sunlight is vital for life on Earth, as -through photosynthesis- it provides the energy all food chains ultimately rely on. Light also gives surface dwelling organisms the ability to sense the environment around them, but not all perceive light in the same way. Some, like humans, have complex eyes, but even plants use light as information.

For generations, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been a beloved Christmas character. The story of Rudolf can now be found on the blog.

A new blog post asks the question: Can functional foods be obtained by exposing plants to UV-B?

A new blog post tells the story of ultraviolet radiation through time.

The International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA) has published a white paper on the use of UV radiation to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.

The ‘International Conference on UV LED Technologies & Applications – ICULTA’ has been rescheduled to next year and will be held from April 18 to 21, 2021 in Berlin, Germany.

UV industry associations are discouraging the use of UV light on the human body to disinfect against Corona Virus.

The 3rd Network Meeting of the UV4Plants Association has been rearranged.

Due to the current regulation by the Senate of Berlin on conferences of more than 50 participants, ICULTA 2020 has been postponed.

Today we published our first blog post. Read all about the effects UV has on Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) plants.

The next Network meeting of the International Association of Plant UV Research (UV4Plants) will be held in Kiel, Germany, from 1 to 3 April 2020. The theme of the meeting will be “Plant responses to UV radiation – Diversity in time and space”.

After a successful first conference, the second International Conference on UV LED Technologies & Applications (ICULTA) is now announced for 2020.

The workshop “UV-B and Climate Change; impacts on plants and vegetation” was held in Cork, Ireland, on 15 & 16 April 2019. The overarching aim of the workshop was to explore the interactive effects of UV-B and climate change parameters on plants and vegetation.

The latest UNEP-report on the effects of stratospheric ozone depletion has now been published.

Several members of the UV4Plants Association attended the “Joint International Conference on UV-LED Technologies and Applications” (ICULTA-2018) taking place in Berlin from April 22 to 25, 2018.

The International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA) has published a white paper on the use of UV radiation to inactivate the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Welcome to our website where we will be presenting our SFI-funded research project on LEDs in the UV spectrum, and their use on plant crops.