The workshop ‘UV4Pigments – From Invisible to Colourful: Interactions of Plant Pigments and UV Light’ was held and successfully completed on 17-18 April 2023, at Szekszárd Hungary. The Workshop was organized by The International Association of Plant UV Research UV4Plants, with the UV Photobiology Research Team of the Department of Plant Biology at the University of Pécs as local organizers. There were 32 participants, including 15 early-stage researchers; representing 14 laboratories. Most delegates arrived Sunday, on the 16th of April and informal discussions have already started during dinner. The official program started Monday morning and lasted for two full days. There were 27 talks, including 7 short presentations from early-stage researchers, who presented the results of pilot experiments or thesis plans. Topics highlighted the role of pigments in acclimation to changing environments in a variety of organisms: vascular plants, bryophytes, and thallophytes; showed the potential of UV to modify pigment patterns both indoors and outdoors. Two group discussions were held, a short one on technical aspects of plant UV measurements, and an extended one on future joint experiments. Delegates agreed on the importance of UV as a tool to create healthier, more nutritious edible plants in indoor growth systems. Informal…
A new special issue on “Plants and UV-B radiation” has been published in Physiologia Plantarum. The issue can be found under the following link, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/13993054/2021/173/3 The issue was initiated during the 3rd UV4Plants network meeting by Wolfgang Bilger, Eva Rosenqvist, and Frauke Pescheck.
The 19th Congress of the European Society for Photobiology, which took place virtually at Salzburg from August 30 to September 3, 2021 provided a possibility to exchange knowledge and data between UV – interested plant researchers. Among numerous sessions, three of them were especially interesting for UV4Plants Members. The first one, led by Javier Martínez-Abaigar and Pirjo Huovinen depicted responses of non-flowering plants to UV radiation” and included Cyanobacteria, green macroalgae, diatoms, lichens, and bryophytes. The second session entitled “Interactions of UV and other environmental factors in regulating plant growth and development” was chaired by Marcel A.K. Jansen & Éva Hideg. Crosstalk between UV signaling and several environmental factors, such as drought, cold, salt stress as well as the presence of insects and endophytes were discussed. In the last session, Gareth Jenkins guided the participants through updates on plant UVB photoreceptors. UV4Plants Members could also participate in a social mixer with a mystery game through an internet communication platform. Young UV4Plants Members were supported by the Association by receiving bursaries for attendance.
We would like to inform you that Prof. Martyn Caldwell died a couple of days ago. He conducted important research on UV radiation and for many years he has been leading the UNEP panel assessing the Environmental Effects of ozone depletion and UV-B radiation.
The obituary and tribute wall can be viewed here.
This is the group photo of participants of the UV4Plants 3rd Network / 1st virtual Meeting 2020. We gathered together 125 people from 30 countries.