Plants are constantly exposed to the sun, no doubt they use
sunlight to process their food by photosynthesis, but at the same time they need protection form
the harmful UV radiations emitted by the sun too. A group of scientists had discovered
molecules that shielded the plants from the harmful radiations of the sun. And
then researchers from Purdue University reported the mechanism of these natural
plant sunscreens.
Timothy Zwier and colleagues from Purdue University noted
that plants are exposed to harsh UV rays on the daily basis. These radiations
can cause serious damage to the plants DNA, and hinder plant growth. But till
date these radiations have never been seen to affect the plant growth.
Biochemical tests showed that plants generate special molecules and send them
to the outer layer of their leaves to protect themselves. Researchers reported that these molecules are
called sinapate esters, and they block UV B-radiations and prevent it from
penetrating deep inside the leaves where it might the affect the regular
development of the plants.
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| Plants constantly being exposed to UV radiations |
Zwier's team investigated in detail as to what happens to the
sinapate esters under UV B-radiations exposure. The research team coaxed the
sinapate ester molecules to gas phase and exposed them to the UVB radiation in
the laboratory. They saw that the sinapate ester molecules soaked up the UVB radiation at every wavelength hence preventing it from penetrating deep into
the leaves. These findings eventually indicated that these molecules do indeed
act as the natural sunblock for the plants.
I think it would be great if these molecules could be somehow used
in the sunscreen used by humans, as a large number of individuals are being
exposed to the UV radiations constantly, which is eventually leading to
increasing number of skin cancers patients around the globe. But it is very
early to speculate its use for the human population.
Related Article: Health affects of UV radiations - http://www.who.int/uv/health/en/
