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Sunsafe Bryophytes: Photoprotection From Excess And Damaging Solar Radiation, Sharon A. Robinson, Melinda J. Waterman

Sharon Robinson

Whilst light is essential for photosynthesis and development of plants, both excess photosynthetically active radiation and certain wavelengths (e.g. high energy ultraviolet-B) radiation can be damaging. Plants in general possess a suite of mechanisms that act to either prevent absorption of damaging and excess radiation or to mitigate against the damage that such radiation can cause once it is absorbed. Whilst bryophytes share many of these photoprotective mechanisms with the vascular plants, there are key differences in the photoprotection available to bryophytes. Some of these differences pertain to structural features, such as protective epidermal layers, that are available to vascular …