Effects of selenium on agronomical characters of winter wheat exposed to enhanced ultraviolet-B

• Se supply reduced the oxidant stress in winter wheat caused by enhanced UV-B.
• Se supply alleviated the adverse effects of enhanced UV-B on the yield of winter wheat.
• Se supply improved nutritional quality of winter wheat caused by enhanced UV-B.

Enhanced ultraviolet-B (UV-B) is one of the most important abiotic stress factors that can influence almost every aspect of plant. Selenium (Se) can increase the tolerance of plants to stressful environment. The paper mainly reported the effects of enhanced UV-B, Se supply and their combination on agronomical characters of winter wheat under field conditions. Enhanced UV-B caused a marked decrease in chlorophyll content, plant height, spike length, weight per spike, grain yield and protein content, grain nitrogen (N) and iron (Fe) concentration, and increased hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline content, and grain zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) concentration under without supplemental Se supply. However, it also decreased plant height, spike length, weight per spike, grain yield and Fe concentration, and increased H2O2 content, grain potassium (K), Zn and Mn concentration under supplemental Se supply. On the other hand, Se supply induced an evident increase in chlorophyll content, spike length, weight per spike, grain yield, grain protein content, grain N, Fe, copper (Cu), and Se concentration under both UV-B levels. Moreover, significant UV-B×Se interaction was found on plant height, chlorophyll, MDA, H2O2 and proline content, and grain protein, N, K, Cu and Mn concentrations in wheat. The obtained results supported the hypothesis that Se supply increased the yield and improved the quality of winter wheat exposed to enhanced UV-B to some extent.