Soluble silicon modulates expression of Arabidopsis thaliana genes involved in copper stress

Can silicon partially alleviate micronutrient deficiency in plants? a review

“…In Arabidopsis thaliana, Cu toxicity symptoms such as chlorosis on leaves and reduction of shoot and root biomass, were diminished by a Si addition to the nutrient solution (Li et al 2008;Khandekar and Leisner 2011), similar findings were observed for wheat (Nowakowski and Nowakowska 1997). But leaf Cu concentration was not significantly changed as a result of Si addition, suggesting that Si influenced the distribution or bioavailability of Cu within leaves under Cu stress (Li et al 2008).…”

“…There are fewer studies that review the Si-Cu interaction in plants (Nowakowski and Nowakowska 1997;Li et al 2008;Khandekar and Leisner 2011;Frantz et al 2011). In Arabidopsis thaliana, Cu toxicity symptoms such as chlorosis on leaves and reduction of shoot and root biomass, were diminished by a Si addition to the nutrient solution (Li et al 2008;Khandekar and Leisner 2011), similar findings were observed for wheat (Nowakowski and Nowakowska 1997).…”

Silicon-Mediated Tolerance to Metal Toxicity

“…It is unknown whether Si can mediate the metabolism of organic acids, amino acids, polyamine, phenolic acids and phytochelatins (PCs) and metallothioneins (MTs) to chelate heavy metal ions via ex or in planta mechanisms. More recently, Khandekar and Leisner ( 2011 ) reported that the relative transcript levels of MT2a , MT2b (the type 2 metallothioneins genes) and PCS1 (the major phytochelatin synthase gene) in the leaves of Arabidopsis thaliana Sf-1 plants under Cu stress were higher in the presence of Si than in the absence of Si, but a reverse result was obtained for relative transcript levels of MT1a (the type 1 metallothioneins gene).…”

“…Cunha et al ( 2008 ) found that the root and shoot biomass of maize was increased by 80 % and 59 %, respectively, by applying 200 mg Si kg −1 to an acidic tropical soil contaminated with 100 mg Zn kg −1 . Cu toxicity has been recently reported to be mitigated by the addition of Si in Arabidopsis thaliana Khandekar and Leisner 2011 ), Zinnia elegans (Frantz et al 2011 ), Erica andevalensis (Rossini et al 2011) and rice (Kim et al 2014a ). Collin et al ( 2014 ) reported that bamboo grown hydroponically with 100 mM Cu induced suffered a signifi cant growth inhibition with severe visual toxicity symptoms (i.e.…”

“…Recently, Khandekar and Leisner ( 2011 ) have investigated the expression of three MT (metallothionein) genes, MT1a , MT2a and MT2b encoding for cysteinerich metal-binding proteins, in Arabidopsis treated with toxic level of Cu and Si and found that while all three MT genes were induced by Cu, the levels of expression either remained elevated or were boosted to even higher levels in plants subjected to treatment with Si and phytotoxic doses of Cu. The elevated production of MT in the Si-treated plants under excessive Cu stress may suggest that Si may be promoting gene expression of MTs to keep the levels of soluble Cu low within the cell to alleviate Cu toxicity.…”