THE INFLUENCE OF ULTRAVIOLET-A ON INDICATORS OF PLANT STRESS IN CANNABIS SATIVA
- Date
- May 25, 2022
- Time
- 12:09 AM EDT - 12:00 PM EDT
- Location
- Virtual Zoom
- Open To
- Event open to Students, Faculty, Staff, Post-Doctoral Fellows, Public
- Contact
- Sarah Kovacs skovacs@torontomu.ca
Candidate: Jillian Muir-Guarnaccia
Supervisor: Dr. Lesley Campbell
ABSTRACT
THE INFLUENCE OF ULTRAVIOLET-A ON INDICATORS OF PLANT STRESS IN CANNABIS SATIVA
Molecular Science, Ryerson University 2022
The economic value of C. sativa is influenced by inflorescence quality and is strongly influenced by lighting quality and quantity. Exposure to UV has been shown to increase concentrations of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid in drug-type plants.Exceedingly high doses of UV-B are physiologically damaging and theorized to be repaired photo-enzymatically, through exposure to white/UV-A light. We assessed chlorophyll content, stomatal conductance, sexual lability, vegetative, floral biomass, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol content in C. sativa using light emitting diodes (LED) receiving 4h of UV-B alone or with 6h UV-A daily for five weeks. Significant (or interactive) effects of UV-A were not detected for any trait measured. However, plants exposed to UV-A+B showed a negative correlation between stomatal size and density, not seen under UV-B alone, suggesting UV-A influences stomatal physiology.Our results suggest a limited impact of UV-A exposure when white light is sufficient. Alternatively,further environmental variables may have obscured any effects from UV-A exposure.
Keywords: cannabinoids, Cannabis sativa L., floral biomass, hemp, stomatal conductance, ultraviolet radiation (UV), UV-A, UV-B, yield
