Depletion of stratospheric ozone has lead to increased UV radiation reaching the surface of the Earth. This may damage plants. Using physiological, proteomic and qPCR methods, we systematically studied the response of 16-day-old rice seedlings to UV (0.67 W m-2 UVBBE and 0.28 W m-2 UVA) exposure for 6, 12 and 24 h. UV exposure resulted in appearance of light brown patches on leaf, decrease of Pn, lipid peroxidation, accumulation of UV-absorbing compounds (including flavonoids and other phenolic pigments), and differential expression of 22 proteins. Both physiological and molecular responses became stronger with increasing UV-exposure time, indicating UV accumulation effects on plants. UV-induced responses included (1) phytohormone-regulative responses (up-regulation of proteins related to phytohormone synthesis such as IAA and ethylene); (2) injurious responses (photosynthesis suppression, lipid peroxidation and visible injury); and (3) protective responses (accumulation of UV-absorbing compounds and differential expression of proteins involved in detoxification/antioxidation, defense, protein processing, RNA processing, carbohydrate metabolism and secondary metabolism). The identification of UV-responsive proteins provided a better understanding of molecular metabolisms of plant responses to UV stress. Proteomic and qPCR analysis identified one up-regulated and two induced proteins with important functions: tryptophan synthase alpha chain (production of radical oxygen species), glyoxalase I (detoxification/antioxidation) and a Bet v I family protein (defense). These results will contribute to future research into their roles in UV stress responses in plants.