UV-B absorbing pigments in spores: biochemical responses to shade in a high-latitude birch forest and implications for sporopollenin-based proxies of past environmental change

Fraser, Wesley T.; Sephton, Mark A.; Watson, Jonathan S.; Self, Stephen; Lomax, Barry H.; James, David I.; Wellman, Charles H.; Callaghan, Terry V. and Beerling, David J. (2011). UV-B absorbing pigments in spores: biochemical responses to shade in a high-latitude birch forest and implications for sporopollenin-based proxies of past environmental change. Polar Research, 30 p. 8312.

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URL:	http://www.polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/artic...
DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link:	http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.3402/polar.v30i0.8312
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Abstract

Current attempts to develop a proxy for Earth’s surface ultraviolet-B (UV-B) flux focus on the organic chemistry of pollen and spores because their constituent biopolymer, sporopollenin, contains UV-B absorbing pigments whose relative abundance may respond to the ambient UV-B flux. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy provides a useful tool for rapidly determining the pigment content of spores. In this paper, we use FTIR to detect a chemical response of spore wall UV-B absorbing pigments that correspond with levels of shade beneath the canopy of a high-latitude Swedish birch forest. A 27% reduction in UV-B flux beneath the canopy leads to a significant (p<0.05) 7.3% reduction in concentration of UV-B absorbing compounds in sporopollenin. The field data from this natural flux gradient in UV-B further support our earlier work on sporopollenin-based proxies derived from sedimentary records and herbaria collections.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Copyright Holders:	2011 W.T. Fraser et al.
ISSN:	1751-8369
Funders:	Natural and Environmental Research Council (NER/A/S/2002/00865), Thermo Fisher Scientific, Enhanced Transnational Access To AbiskoScientific Research Station grant from the European Union (FP6 506004), Leverhulme Trust Early Career fellowship (ECF/2006/0492)
Keywords:	FTIR; spores; ferulic acid; p-coumaric acid; shade; sporopollenin
Academic Unit/Department:	?? scie-easc ?? Science > Physical Sciences Science > Environment, Earth and Ecosystems
Interdisciplinary Research Centre:	Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research (CEPSAR)
Item ID:	29293
Depositing User:	Jonathan Watson
Date Deposited:	25 Aug 2011 14:42
Last Modified:	23 Oct 2012 21:54
URI:	http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/29293

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