An Arabidopsis mutant tolerant to lethal ultraviolet-B levels shows constitutively elevated accumulation of flavonoids and other phenolics.

The isolation and characterization of mutants hypersensitive to ultraviolet (UV) radiation has been a powerful tool to learn about the mechanisms that protect plants against UV-induced damage. To increase our understanding of the various mechanisms of defense against UVB radiation, we searched for mutations that would increase the level of tolerance of Arabidopsis plants to UV radiation. We describe a single gene dominant mutation (uvt1) that leads to a remarkable tolerance to UVB radiation conditions that would kill wild-type plants. Pigment analyses show a constitutive increase in accumulation of UV-absorbing compounds in uvt1 that increases the capacity of the leaves to block UVB radiation and therefore is likely to be responsible for the elevated resistance of this mutant to UVB radiation. These increases in absorption in the UV region are due, at least in part, to increases in flavonoid and sinapate accumulation. Expression of chalcone synthase (CHS) mRNA was shown to be constitutively elevated in uvt1 plants, suggesting that the increases in absorption may be a consequence of changes in gene expression. Expression of CHS in uvt1 was shown to be still inducible by UV, indicating that the uvt1 lesion may not affect the UV-mediated regulation of CHS gene expression. Our data support an important role for UV screens in the overall protection of plants to UVB radiation. The uvt1 mutant could prove to be an important tool to elucidate further the exact role of UV-absorbing pigments in UV protection as well as the relative contribution of other mechanisms to the overall tolerance of plants to UV radiation.