Does cell cycle arrest occur in plant under solar UV-B radiation?

UV-B radiation (280-315 nm) is an integral part of solar radiation and has many harmful effects on plant growth and development. However, the molecular mechanism for the inhibition of plant growth by UV-B remains largely unknown. UV-B radiation induces various responses such as growth inhibition, DNA damage and changes of gene expression. Recently, by using synchronous root tip culture, we found that UV-B modulates the expression of cell cycle regulatory genes through DNA damage. Western blotting analysis revealed that UV-B induced G1-to-S arrest did not correlate with the protein abundance of CDKB1;1 and CYCD3;1 gene regulating proteins, but may with the posttranslational control. We extended the expression analysis of cell cycle related genes based on the published microarray data and the results strengthen our assumption that cell cycle arrest could occur in plant under solar UV-B radiation. Further study is needed to elucidate the relationship between cell cycle regulation and protective pathway induced by low dose of UV-B radiation fundamental molecular mechanism for how plants respond to solar UV-B radiation.