Influence of exogenous silicon on UV-B radiation-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimmers in soybean leaves and its alleviation mechanism

The DNA is particularly sensitive to UV-B radiation and can readily be damaged by UV-B stress, resulting to the formation of photoproducts like cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs). Silicon has multifarious benefits to plants, especially under biotic and abiotic stress. In this study, we used soybean seedlings to determine whether silicon could alleviate damage to DNA caused by UV-B stress. Silicon significantly reduced the accumulation of CPDs, lessening the damage of UV-B stress to the seedlings by the following three mechanisms: (1) increasing the concentration of UV-B absorbing compounds to reduce damage; (2) strengthening the antioxidant capacity of plants represented by higher levels of non-enzymatic antioxidants and (3) increasing the photolyase gene expression, thus accelerating photorepair.