Differences in the sensitivity to UVB radiation of two cultivars of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The effects of UVB radiation on the growth of two cultivars of Japanese lowland rice (Oryza sativa L.), Sasanishiki and Norin 1, were examined in a phytotron. Supplementation of visible radiation with UVB radiation reduced plant length, tiller number, the fresh and dry weights of the aboveground parts of plants, and the amounts of total leaf nitrogen, chlorophyll, soluble protein and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) in the eighth leaf, the youngest fully expanded leaf. By contrast, UVB radiation significantly increased the accumulation of UV-absorbing compounds. There was a difference between the two cultivars in the resistance to the effects of UVB radiation. The reduction in the amounts of Rubisco was smaller in Sasanishiki, while the increase in the accumulation of UV-absorbing compounds was greater in Sasanishiki. Parameters of plant growth, with the exception of the amount of Rubisco, decreased in direct proportion to decreases in total leaf nitrogen in plants grown under lower or higher doses of UVB radiation. However, the decrease in the Rubisco content of Norin 1 grown under a high dose of UVB radiation was exceptionally marked, and was not observed similarly in Sasanishiki. These results suggest that the remarkable reduction in Rubisco content in Norin 1 might have been due to the specific effects of UVB radiation. It is also suggested that the difference between cultivars in the resistance to UVB radiation might be due to the differences in the levels of Rubisco and in UV-absorbing compounds that are induced by UVB radiation.