title: Understanding the physiological effects of UV-C light and exploiting its agronomic potential before and after harvest.
abstract: There is an abundant literature about the biological and physiological effects of UV-B light and the signaling and metabolic pathways it triggers and influences. Much less is known about UV-C light even though it seems to have a lot of potential for being effective in less time than UV-B light. UV-C light is known since long to exert direct and indirect inhibitory and damaging effects on living cells and is therefore commonly used for disinfection purposes. More recent observations suggest that UV-C light can also be exploited to stimulate the production of health-promoting phytochemicals, to extent shelf life of fruits and vegetables and to stimulate mechanisms of adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses. Clearly some of these effects may be related to the stimulating effect of UV-C light on the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and to the stimulation of antioxidant molecules and mechanisms, although UV-C light could also trigger and regulate signaling pathways independently from its effect on the production of ROS. Our review clearly underlines the high potential of UV-C light in agriculture and therefore advocates for more work to be done to improve its efficiency and also to increase our understanding of the way UV-C light is perceived and influences the physiology of plants.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche Qualisud, Laboratoire de Physiologie des Fruits et Légumes, Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, 301 rue Baruch de Spinoza, BP 2139 - 84916, Avignon cedex 9, France. Electronic address: laurent.urban@univ-avignon.fr.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Urban
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche Qualisud, Laboratoire de Physiologie des Fruits et Légumes, Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, 301 rue Baruch de Spinoza, BP 2139 - 84916, Avignon cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiologia e Bioquímica de Frutos, Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Av. Mr. Hull 2297 Bl. 907, Campus do Pici, CEP 60455-760, Fortaleza, CE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Raquel Alcântara
authors.initials: MRA
authors.lastname: de Miranda
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche Qualisud, Laboratoire de Physiologie des Fruits et Légumes, Université d'Avignon et des Pays de Vaucluse, 301 rue Baruch de Spinoza, BP 2139 - 84916, Avignon cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Jawad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aarrouf
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000528:radiation effects; D000383:Agriculture; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D059828:Plant Cells / Q000528:radiation effects; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
keywords: Fruits and vegetables; Photoreceptors; Plant defenses; Post-harvest; Reactive oxygen species; Secondary metabolites; UV-C light