Abstract
Water deficit limits the establishment of sugarcane that uses Pre-sprouted seedlings (PSS). Silicon (Si) can mitigate the effects of water deficiency, but it is not known if the Si applied through fertigation is efficient to mitigate damage caused by water deficit at 60 days after transplantation of PSS to the field, nor what physiological and biochemical mechanisms are involved. For this purpose, the objective of this study was to evaluate whether Si applied through fertigation in the PSS production phase of Saccharum officinarum L. (sugarcane) and S. spontaneum L. (energy cane) is efficient in mitigating the effects caused by severe water deficit at 60 days after transplantation. Another objective was to determine the physiological and biochemical mechanisms involved. Two experiments were developed using PSS from sugarcane and energy cane. The treatments consisted of a 2 × 2 factorial scheme, with absence (−Si) and presence of Si (+Si) applied through fertigation (2.5 mmol L−1); combined with water regime: 70% (without deficit) and 30% (severe water deficit) of soil water holding capacity, arranged in randomized blocks with six repetitions. Severe water deficit at 60 days after transplanting decreased the water content and the water potential of the plants, inducing oxidative stress and impairing photosynthetic efficiency, with a consequent decrease in plant growth. Fertigation was shown to be efficient to supply Si in the PSS of sugarcane and energy cane. The residual effect of Si attenuated the damage caused by water deficit at 60 days after transplanting in both species; the mechanisms involved were related to the antioxidant defense system with increased activity of enzymes catalase, superoxide dismutase, ascorbate peroxidase, and proline content. In addition, water status remained stable and, consequently, there was increased plant growth. This study showed that the strategy based on Si supply enables the use of PSS in sugarcane and energy cane, increasing the viability and sustainability of this production system.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alexieva V, Sergiev I, Mapelli S, Karanov E (2001) The effect of drought and ultraviolet radiation on growth and stress markers in pea and wheat. Plant Cell Environ 24:1337–1344. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3040.2001.00778.x
Azevedo RA, Alas RM, Smith RJ, Lea PJ (1998) Response of antioxidant enzymes to transfer from elevated carbon dioxide to air and ozone fumigation, in the leaves and roots of wild-type and a catalase-deficient mutant of barley. Physiol Plant 104:280–292. https://doi.org/10.1034/j.1399-3054.1998.1040217.x
Babiker AGT, Duncan HJ (1974) Penetration of bracken fronds by asulam as influenced by the addition of surfactant to the spray solution and by pH. Weed Res 14:375–377. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3180.1974.tb01078.x
Barrs H, Weatherley P (1962) A re-examination of the relative turgidity technique for estimating water deficits in leaves. Aust J Biol Sci 15:413–428. https://doi.org/10.1071/BI9620413
Basnayake J, Jackson PA, Inman-Bamber NG, Lakshmanan P (2012) Sugarcane for water-limited environments. Genetic variation in cane yield and sugar content in response to water stress. J Exp Bot 63:6023–6033. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ers251
Bates LS, Waldren RP, Teare ID (1973) Rapid determination of free proline for water-stress studies. Plant Soil 39:205–207. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00018060
Bezerra BKL, Lima GPP, dos Reis AR et al (2019) Physiological and biochemical impacts of silicon against water deficit in sugarcane. Acta Physiol Plant 41:189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-019-2980-0
Birchall JD (1995) The essentiality of silicon in biology. Chem Soc Rev 24:351–357. https://doi.org/10.1039/CS9952400351
Boaretto LF, Carvalho G, Borgo L et al (2014) Plant physiology and biochemistry water stress reveals differential antioxidant responses of tolerant and non-tolerant sugarcane genotypes. Plant Physiol Biochem 74:165–175. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2013.11.016
Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–254
Camargo MS, Bezerra BKL, Holanda LA et al (2019) Silicon fertilization improves physiological responses in sugarcane cultivars grown under water deficit. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 19:81–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-019-0012-1
Cavalcante VS, Prado RM, Vasconcelos RL, Campos CNS (2016) Iron concentrations in sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L.) cultivated in nutrient solution. Agrociencia 50:867–875
Chen D, Cao B, Wang S et al (2016) Silicon moderated the K deficiency by improving the plant-water status in sorghum. Sci Rep 6:1–14. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep22882
da Silva PP, Soares L, da Costa JG et al (2012) Path analysis for selection of drought tolerant sugarcane genotypes through physiological components. Ind Crops Prod 37:11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2011.11.015
Dionisio-Sese ML, Tobita S (1998) Antioxidant responses of rice seedlings to salinity stress. Plant Sci 135:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-9452(98)00025-9
Dosio GAA, Tardieu F, Turc O (2011) Floret initiation, tissue expansion and carbon availability at the meristem of the sunflower capitulum as affected by water or light deficits. New Phytol 189:94–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03445.x
Embrapa (1997) Manual de métodos de análise de solo. Documentos, Rio de Janeiro
Epstein E (1999) Silicon. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 50:641–664
Fu J, Huang B (2001) Involvement of antioxidants and lipid peroxidation in the adaptation of two cool-season grasses to localized drought stress. Environ Exp Bot 45:105–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0098-8472(00)00084-8
Giannopolitis CN, Ries SK (1977) Superoxide dismutases. I. Occurrence in higher plants. Plant Physiol 59:309–314. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.59.2.309
Gomes-Junior RA, Gratão PL, Gaziola SA et al (2007) Selenium-induced oxidative stress in coffee cell suspension cultures. Funct Plant Biol 34:449–456. https://doi.org/10.1071/FP07010
Gong H, Zhu X, Chen K et al (2005) Silicon alleviates oxidative damage of wheat plants in pots under drought. Plant Sci 169:313–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2005.02.023
Gratão PL, Polle A, Lea PJ, Azevedo RA (2005) Making the life of heavy metal-stressed plants a little easier. Funct Plant Biol 32:481–494. https://doi.org/10.1071/FP05016
Gratão PL, Monteiro CC, Carvalho RF et al (2012) Biochemical dissection of diageotropica and never ripe tomato mutants to Cd-stressful conditions. Plant Physiol Biochem 56:79–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2012.04.009
Heath RL, Packer L (1968) Photoperoxidation in isolated chloroplasts I. Kinetics and stoichiometry of fatter acid peroxidation. Arch Biochem Biophys 125:189–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-9861(68)90654-1
Hoagland DR, Arnon DI (1950) The water-culture method for growing plants without soil. The College of Agriculture University of California, Berkeley
Ibrahim MFM, El-Samad GA, Ashour H et al (2020) Regulation of agronomic traits, nutrient uptake, osmolytes and antioxidants of maize as influenced by exogenous potassium silicate under deficit irrigation and semiarid conditions. Agronomy. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10081212
Jain R, Chandra A, Venugopalan V, Solomon S (2015) Physiological changes and expression of SOD and P5CS genes in response to water deficit in sugarcane. Sugar Tech 17:276–282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-014-0317-2
Kim Y, Khan AL, Waqas M, Lee I (2017) Silicon regulates antioxidant activities of crop plants under abiotic-induced oxidative stress: a review. Front Plant Sci 8:1–7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2017.00510
Kong W, Liu F, Zhang C et al (2016) Non-destructive determination of Malondialdehyde (MDA) distribution in oilseed rape leaves by laboratory scale NIR hyperspectral imaging. Sci Rep 6:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep35393
Korndörfer GH, Pereira HS, Nolla A (2004) Análise de silício no solo, planta e fertilizantes, 2nd edn. UFU, Uberlândia
Kraska JE, Breitenbeck GA (2010) Simple, robust method for quantifying silicon in plant tissue. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 41:2075–2085. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2010.498537
Kraus TE, McKersie BD, Fletcher RA (1995) Paclobutrazol-induced tolerance of wheat leaves to paraquat may involve increased antioxidant enzyme activity. J Plant Physiol 145:570–576. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0176-1617(11)81790-6
Landell MGA, Campana MP, Figueiredo P, et al (2012) Sistema de multiplicação de cana‑de‑açúcar com uso de mudas pré‑brotadas (MPB), oriundas de gemas individualizadas. Campinas
Lichtenthaler HK, Buschmann C, Knapp M (2005) How to correctly determine the different chlorophyll fluorescence parameters and the chlorophyll fluorescence decrease ratio RFd of leaves with the PAM fluorometer. Photosynthetica 43:379–393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-005-0062-6
Marcos FCC, Silveira NM, Mokochinski JB et al (2018) Drought tolerance of sugarcane is improved by previous exposure to water deficit. J Plant Physiol 223:9–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2018.02.001
Martins APC, Albrecht LP, Castaldo J et al (2015) Novas tecnologias no plantio de cana-de-açúcar (Saccharum spp). J Agron Sci 4:301–317
Matsuoka S (2017) Free fiber level drives resilience and hybrid vigor in energy cane. J Sci Achiev 2:1–35
Mitani N, Yamaji N, Ma JF (2009) Identification of maize silicon influx transporters. Plant Cell Physiol 50:5–12. https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcn110
Moldes CA, Medici LO, Abrahão OS et al (2008) Biochemical responses of glyphosate resistant and susceptible soybean plants exposed to glyphosate. Acta Physiol Plant 30:469–479. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-008-0144-8
Pei ZF, Ming DF, Liu D et al (2010) Silicon improves the tolerance to water-deficit stress induced by polyethylene glycol in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings. J Plant Growth Regul 29:106–115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-009-9120-9
Raij B, Andrade J, Cantarella H, Quaggio J (2001) Análise química para avaliação da fertilidade de solos tropicais. IAC, Campinas
Rocha JR, de Mello PR, Teixeira GCM, de Oliveira Filho ASB (2021) Si fertigation attenuates water stress in forages by modifying carbon stoichiometry, favouring physiological aspects. J Agron Crop Sci. https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.12479
Santos HG, Jacomine PKT, Anjos LHC, et al (2018) Brazilian soil classification system, 2nd edn. Embrapa Soils, Brasília
Santos LS, Braga NCC, Rodrigues TM et al (2020) Pre-sprouted seedlings of sugarcane using sugarcane industry by-products as substrate. Sugar Tech 1:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12355-020-00798-y
Smirnoff N (1993) The role of active oxygen in the response of plants to water deficit and desiccation. New Phytol 125:27–58. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.1993.tb03863.x
Szabados L, Savouré A (2010) Proline: a multifunctional amino acid. Trends Plant Sci 15:89–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2009.11.009
Teixeira GCM, de Mello PR, Rocha AMS et al (2020) Silicon in pre-sprouted sugarcane seedlings mitigates the effects of water deficit after transplanting. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 20:849–859. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-019-00170-4
Teixeira GCM, Mello Prado R, Rocha AMS (2021) Low absorption of silicon via foliar in comparison to root application has an immediate antioxidant effect in mitigating water deficit damage in sugarcane. J Agron Crop Sci 00:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/jac.12511
Turner NC (1981) Techniques and experimental approaches for the measurement of plant water status. Plant Soil 58:339–366. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02180062
Funding
This study was partially funded by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. There was no additional external funding received for this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
GCMT – Roles: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing. RdMP – Roles: Conceptualization, Funding acquisition, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Writing – review and editing. AMSR – Roles: Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft. GdSSJ – Roles: Methodology, Writing – original draft. PLG – Roles: Methodology, Resources, Writing – original draft.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Handling Editor: Durgesh Kumar Tripathi.
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Teixeira, G.C.M., Mello Prado, R., Rocha, A.M.S. et al. Beneficial Effect of Silicon Applied Through Fertigation Attenuates Damage Caused by Water Deficit in Sugarcane. J Plant Growth Regul 41, 3255–3270 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-021-10510-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-021-10510-3