Abstract
Silicon (Si) supplementation is currently gaining popularity in the field of salt tolerance in a variety of crop plants. Si in plants substantially diminishes the negative effects of salinity and can boost wheat’s ability to withstand stress. However, the effect of Si on different wheat varieties and how they respond to Si under severe stress conditions are still unknown. In this investigation, we demonstrated the effect of Si on the growth attributes like germination percent, radicle length, seed vigor index, shoot–root length, plant biomass, biochemical parameters like sodium and potassium ions, and K+/Na+ ratio of two wheat varieties, i.e., KRL-210 (salt-tolerant) and WH-1105 (salt-sensitive) under different saline conditions (40, 80, and 120 mM), both with and without Si treatments. Higher levels of salinity reduced the growth performance of both wheat varieties. It was observed that the increase in sodium ion content during salinity decreased the overall growth of the plants. Potassium content was also found to decrease under increased concentrations of salt. Consequently, the K+/Na+ ratio of roots, shoots, and leaves was also dramatically decreased under salt stress. The WH-1105 variety was found to be badly affected during high salt stress, as KRL-210 is more salt-tolerant than WH-1105, while Si supplementation amended the growth attributes of both varieties under severe salt stress. Moreover, Si supplementation enhanced the potassium content and reduced the sodium uptake in plants under stress situations. The positive effect of Si was found more remarkable in the WH-1105 variety than in KRL-210, showing Si’s species-dependent nature. The outcome of this research may aid in the development of alternative approaches for defending wheat plants from severe salinity, as well as providing a scientific base for the assessment of salt tolerance and the systematic agriculture of wheat.
Graphical abstract
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data, figures, and results in the paper are our own and original.
References
Abdelaal KA, Mazrou YS, Hafez YM (2020) Silicon foliar application mitigates salt stress in sweet pepper plants by enhancing water status, photosynthesis, antioxidant enzyme activity and fruit yield. Plants 9(6):733. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9060733
Abdeldym EA, El-Mogy MM, Abdellateaf HR, Atia MA (2020) Genetic characterization, agro-morphological and physiological evaluation of grafted tomato under salinity stress conditions. Agronomy 10(12):1948. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10121948
Abdelgawad K, El-Mogy MM, Mohamed MIA, Garchery C, Stevens RG (2019) Increasing ascorbic acid content and salinity tolerance of cherry tomato plants by suppressed expression of the ascorbate oxidase gene. Agronomy 9(2):51. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy9020051
Acosta-Motos JR, Ortuño MF, Bernal-Vicente A, Diaz-Vivancos P, Sanchez-Blanco MJ, Hernandez JA (2017) Plant responses to salt stress: adaptive mechanisms. Agronomy 7(1):18. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy7010018
Ahmad F, Kamal A, Singh A, Ashfaque F, Alamri S, Siddiqui MH (2020) Salicylic acid modulates antioxidant system, defense metabolites, and expression of salt transporter genes in Pisum sativum under salinity stress. J Plant Growth Regul. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-020-10271-5
Al Murad M, Muneer S (2022) Silicon supplementation modulates physiochemical characteristics to balance and ameliorate salinity stress in Mung bean. Front Plant Sci. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.810991
Al Murad M, Khan AL, Muneer S (2020) Silicon in horticultural crops: cross-talk, signaling, and tolerance mechanism under salinity stress. Plants 9(4):460. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9040460
Almeida DM, Oliveira MM, Saibo NJ (2017) Regulation of Na+ and K+ homeostasis in plants: towards improved salt stress tolerance in crop plants. Genet Mol Biol 40:326–345. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4685-GMB-2016-0106
Alsaeedi A, El-Ramady H, Alshaal T, El-Garawani M, Elhawat N, Al-Otaibi A (2018) Exogenous nanosilica improves germination and growth of cucumber by maintaining K+/Na+ ratio under elevated Na+ stress. Plant Physiol Biochem 125:164–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2018.02.006
Alsaeedi A, El-Ramady H, Alshaal T, El-Garawany M, Elhawat N, Al-Otaibi A (2019) Silica nanoparticles boost growth and productivity of cucumber under water deficit and salinity stresses by balancing nutrients uptake. Plant Physiol Biochem 139:1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2019.03.008
Arif Y, Singh P, Siddiqui H, Bajguz A, Hayat S (2020) Salinity induced physiological and biochemical changes in plants: an omic approach towards salt stress tolerance. Plant Physiol Biochem 156:64–77. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2020.08.042
Ashraf M, Abid M, Teixeira da Silva JA, Shahzad SM, Hussain A, Imtiaz M (2015) Silicon and potassium nutrition enhances salt adaptation capability of sunflower by improving plant water status and membrane stability. Commun Soil Sci Plant Anal 46(8):991–1005. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103624.2015.1018527
Asseng S, Ewert F, Martre P, Rötter RP, Lobell DB, Cammarano D, Kimball BA, Ottman MJ, Wall GW, White JW, Reynolds MP (2015) Rising temperatures reduce global wheat production. Nat Clim Change 5(2):143–147. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2470
Azooz MM, Metwally A, Abou-Elhamd MF (2015) Jasmonate-induced tolerance of Hassawi okra seedlings to salinity in brackish water. Acta Physiol Plant 37:1–3. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-015-1828-5
Badem A, Söylemez S (2022) Effects of nitric oxide and silicon application on growth and productivity of pepper under salinity stress. J King Saud Univ-Sci 34(6):102189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2022.102189
Biju S, Fuentes S, Gupta D (2017) Silicon improves seed germination and alleviates drought stress in lentil crops by regulating osmolytes, hydrolytic enzymes and antioxidant defense system. Plant Physiol Biochem 119:250–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2017.09.001
Coskun D, Deshmukh R, Sonah H, Menzies JG, Reynolds O, Ma JF, Kronzucker HJ, Bélanger RR (2018) The controversies of silicon’s role in plant biology. New Phytol 221(1):67–85. https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.15343
Ding Z, Kheir AM, Ali OA, Hafez EM, ElShamey EA, Zhou Z, Wang B, Ge Y, Fahmy AE, Seleiman MF (2020) A vermicompost and deep tillage system to improve saline-sodic soil quality and wheat productivity. J Environ Manag 277:111388. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111388
El-Banna MF, Abdelaal KA (2018) Response of strawberry plants grown in the hydroponic system to pretreatment with H2O2 before exposure to salinity stress. J Plant Prod 9(12):989–1001. https://doi.org/10.21608/JPP.2018.36617
Farouk S, Al-Amri SM (2019) Exogenous zinc forms counteract NaCl-induced damage by regulating the antioxidant system, osmotic adjustment substances, and ions in canola (Brassica napus L. cv. Pactol) plants. J Soil Sci Plant Nutr 19:887–899. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-019-00087-y
Farouk S, Elhindi KM, Alotaibi MA (2020) Silicon supplementation mitigates salinity stress on Ocimum basilicum L. via improving water balance, ion homeostasis, and antioxidant defense system. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 206:111396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.111396
Gengmao Z, Yu H, Xing S, Shihui L, Quanmei S, Changhai W (2015) Salinity stress increases secondary metabolites and enzyme activity in safflower. Ind Crops Prod 64:175–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2014.10.058
Gill SS, Tuteja N (2010) Reactive oxygen species and antioxidant machinery in abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants. Plant Physiol Biochem 48(12):909–930. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2010.08.016
Gong HJ, Randall DP, Flowers TJ (2006) Silicon deposition in the root reduces sodium uptake in rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings by reducing bypass flow. Plant Cell Environ 29(10):1970–1979. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2006.01572.x
Gou T, Chen X, Han R, Liu J, Zhu Y, Gong H (2020) Silicon can improve seed germination and ameliorate oxidative damage of bud seedlings in cucumber under salt stress. Acta Physiol Plant 42(1):1–11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-019-3007-6
Heidari M (2012) Effects of salinity stress on growth, chlorophyll content and osmotic components of two basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) genotypes. Afric J Biotechnol 11(2):379–384. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJB11.2572
Hniličková H, Hnilička F, Orsák M, Hejnák V (2019) Effect of salt stress on growth, electrolyte leakage, Na+ and K+ content in selected plant species. Plant Soil Environ 65(2):90–96. https://doi.org/10.17221/620/2018-PSE
Hnilickova H, Kraus K, Vachova P, Hnilicka F (2021) Salinity stress affects photosynthesis, malondialdehyde formation, and proline content in Portulaca oleracea L. Plants 10(5):845. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10050845
Hoagland DR, Arnon DI (1957) California agriculture experiment station. Circular 347:30–37
Hurtado AC, Chiconato DA, de Mello PR, Junior GD, Felisberto G (2019) Silicon attenuates sodium toxicity by improving nutritional efficiency in sorghum and sunflower plants. Plant Physiol Biochem 142:224–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2019.07.010
Jam BJ, Shekari F, Andalibi B, Fotovat R, Jafarian V, Najafi J, Uberti D, Mastinu A (2022) Impact of silicon foliar application on the growth and physiological traits of Carthamus tinctorius L. exposed to salt stress. SILICON. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-022-02090-y
Janmohammadi M, Sabaghnia N (2015) Effect of pre-sowing seed treatments with silicon nanoparticles on germinability of sunflower (Helianthus annuus). Bot Lith 21(1):13–21. https://doi.org/10.1515/botlit-2015-0002
Kizilgeci F, Yildirim M, Islam MS, Ratnasekera D, Iqbal MA, Sabagh AE (2021) Normalized difference vegetation index and chlorophyll content for precision nitrogen management in durum wheat cultivars under semi-arid conditions. Sustainability 13(7):3725. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073725
Krishnamurthy SL, Sharma PC, Sharma SK, Batra V, Kumar V, Rao LV (2016) Effect of salinity and use of stress indices of morphological and physiological traits at the seedling stage in rice. Indian J Exp Biol 54(12):843–850
Li J, Zhao C, Zhang M, Yuan F, Chen M (2019) Exogenous melatonin improves seed germination in Limonium bicolor under salt stress. Plant Signal Behav 14(11):1659705. https://doi.org/10.1080/15592324.2019.1659705
Liang Y (1999) Effects of silicon on enzyme activity and sodium, potassium and calcium concentration in barley under salt stress. Plant Soil 209(2):217–224. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004526604913
Liu B, Soundararajan P, Manivannan A (2019) Mechanisms of silicon-mediated amelioration of salt stress in plants. Plants 8(9):307. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8090307
Ma JF, Yamaji N (2006) Silicon uptake and accumulation in higher plants. Trends Plant Sci 11(8):392–397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2006.06.007
Majeed A, Muhammad Z (2019) Salinity: a major agricultural problem—causes, impacts on crop productivity and management strategies. In: Plant abiotic stress tolerance: agronomic, molecular and biotechnological approaches, pp 83–99
Malhotra C, Kapoor RT (2019) Silicon: a sustainable tool in abiotic stress tolerance in plants. Plant abiotic stress tolerance: agronomic, molecular and biotechnological approaches. Springer, Cham, pp 333–356. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-06118-0_14
Mena E, Leiva-Mora M, Jayawardana EK, García L, Veitía N, Bermúdez-Caraballoso I, Collado R, Ortíz RC (2015) Effect of salt stress on seed germination and seedlings growth of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Cultiv Trop 36(3):71–74
Meng Y, Yin Q, Yan Z, Wang Y, Niu J, Zhang J, Fan K (2020) Exogenous silicon enhanced salt resistance by maintaining K+/Na+ homeostasis and antioxidant performance in alfalfa leaves. Front Plant Sci 11:1183. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.01183
Mittler R, Vanderauwera S, Suzuki N, Miller GA, Tognetti VB, Vandepoele K, Gollery M, Shulaev V, Van Breusegem F (2011) ROS signaling: the new wave? Trends Plant Sci 16(6):300–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2011.03.007
Munns R, Tester M (2008) Mechanisms of salinity tolerance. Annu Rev Plant Biol 59:651. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.arplant.59.032607.092911
Orosco-Alcalá BE, Núñez-Palenius HG, Díaz-Serrano F, Pérez-Moreno L, Valencia-Posadas M, Trejo-Tellez LI, Cruz-Huerta N, Valiente-Banuet JI (2021) Grafting improves salinity tolerance of bell pepper plants during greenhouse production. Hortic Environ Biotechnol 62(6):831–844. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13580-021-00362-x
Parihar P, Singh S, Singh R, Singh VP, Prasad SM (2015) Effect of salinity stress on plants and its tolerance strategies: a review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22(6):4056–4075. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3739-1
Polash MA, Sakil MA, Tahjib-Ul-Arif M, Hossain MA (2018) Effect of salinity on osmolytes and relative water content of selected rice genotypes. Trop Plant Res 5(2):227–232. https://doi.org/10.22271/tpr.2018.v5.i2.029
Pooja V, Sharma J, Verma S, Sharma A (2022) Importance of silicon in combating a variety of stresses in plants: a review. J Appl Nat Sci 14(2):607–630. https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v14i2.3426
Qados AA, Moftah AE (2015) Influence of silicon and nano-silicon on germination, growth and yield of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) under salt stress conditions. Am J Exp Agric 6:509–524. https://doi.org/10.9734/AJEA/2015/14109
Queirós F, Fontes N, Silva P, Almeida D, Maeshima M, Gerós H, Fidalgo F (2009) Activity of tonoplast proton pumps and Na+/H+ exchange in potato cell cultures is modulated by salt. J Exp Bot 60(4):1363–1374. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erp011
Rahneshan Z, Nasibi F, Moghadam AA (2018) Effects of salinity stress on some growth, physiological, biochemical parameters and nutrients in two pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) rootstocks. J Plant Interact 13(1):73–82. https://doi.org/10.1080/17429145.2018.1424355
Rai-Kalal P, Tomar RS, Jajoo A (2021) Seed nanopriming by silicon oxide improves drought stress alleviation potential in wheat plants. Funct Plant Biol 48(9):905–915. https://doi.org/10.1071/FP21079
Ren J, Ye J, Yin L, Li G, Deng X, Wang S (2020) Exogenous melatonin improves salt tolerance by mitigating osmotic, ion, and oxidative stresses in maize seedlings. Agronomy 10(5):663. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10050663
Sarkar MM, Mukherjee S, Mathur P, Roy S (2022) Exogenous nano-silicon application improves ion homeostasis, osmolyte accumulation and palliates oxidative stress in Lens culinaris under NaCl stress. Plant Physiol Biochem 192:143–161
Shah SH, Houborg R, McCabe MF (2017) Response of chlorophyll, carotenoid and SPAD-502 measurement to salinity and nutrient stress in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Agronomy 7(3):61. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy7030061
Shahzad B, Rehman A, Tanveer M, Wang L, Park SK, Ali A (2021) Salt stress in brassica: effects, tolerance mechanisms, and management. J Plant Growth Regul 41:781–795. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-021-10338-x
Sharf-Eldin AA, El-Shraiy AM, Eisssa MA, Zaghlool SA (2018) Enhancement of salt tolerance in watermelon using grafting. Arab Univ J Agric Sci 26(1):327–335. https://doi.org/10.21608/ajs.2018.14016
Shen Z, Pu X, Wang S, Dong X, Cheng X, Cheng M (2022) Silicon improves ion homeostasis and growth of liquorice under salt stress by reducing plant Na+ uptake. Sci Rep 12(1):1–13
Silva EN, Silveira JA, Rodrigues CR, Viégas RA (2015) Physiological adjustment to salt stress in Jatropha curcas is associated with accumulation of salt ions, transport and selectivity of K+, osmotic adjustment and K+/Na+ homeostasis. Plant Biol 17(5):1023–1029. https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12337
Singh P, Kumar V, Sharma J, Saini S, Sharma P, Kumar S, Sinhmar Y, Kumar D, Sharma A (2022) Silicon supplementation alleviates the salinity stress in wheat plants by enhancing the plant water status, photosynthetic pigments, proline content and antioxidant enzyme activities. Plants 11(19):2525. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11192525
Sofy MR, Elhindi KM, Farouk S, Alotaibi MA (2020) Zinc and paclobutrazol mediated regulation of growth, upregulating antioxidant aptitude and plant productivity of pea plants under salinity. Plants 9(9):1197. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9091197
Somaddar U, Dey HC, Mim SK, Sarker UK, Uddin MR, Ahmed NU, Mostofa MG, Saha G (2022) Assessing silicon-mediated growth performances in contrasting rice cultivars under salt stress. Plants 11(14):1831. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants11141831
Souri Z, Khanna K, Karimi N, Ahmad P (2020) Silicon and plants: current knowledge and future prospects. J Plant Growth Regul 40:906–925. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-020-10172-7
Sun H, Duan Y, Mitani-Ueno N, Che J, Jia J, Liu J, Guo J, Ma JF, Gong H (2020) Tomato roots have a functional silicon influx transporter but not a functional silicon efflux transporter. Plant Cell Environ 43(3):732–744. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13679
Swain R, Rout GR (2020) Silicon mediated alleviation of salinity stress regulated by silicon transporter genes (Lsi1 and Lsi2) in Indica rice. Braz Arch Biol Technol. https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-4324-2020180513
Turan MA, Elkarim AHA, Taban N, Taban S (2009) Effect of salt stress on growth, stomatal resistance, proline and chlorophyll concentrations on maize plant. Afr J Agric Res 4(9):893–897
Van Zelm E, Zhang Y, Testerink C (2020) Salt tolerance mechanisms of plants. Annu Rev Plant Biol 71:403–433. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-arplant-050718-100005
Vikram P, Sharma J, Sharma A (2022) Role of brassinosteroids in plants responses to salinity stress: a review. J Appl Nat Sci 14(2):582–599v. https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v14i2.3466
Yeo AR, Flowers SA, Rao G, Welfare K, Senanayake N, Flowers TJ (1999) Silicon reduces sodium uptake in rice (Oryza sativa L.) in saline conditions and this is accounted for by a reduction in the transpirational bypass flow. Plant Cell Environ 22(5):559–565. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3040.1999.00418.x
Zeeshan M, Lu M, Sehar S, Holford P, Wu F (2020) Comparison of biochemical, anatomical, morphological, and physiological responses to salinity stress in wheat and barley genotypes deferring in salinity tolerance. Agronomy 10(1):127. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10010127
Zhu YX, Gong HJ, Yin JL (2019) Role of silicon in mediating salt tolerance in plants: a review. Plants 8(6):147. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8060147
Zhu Y, Jiang X, Zhang J, He Y, Zhu X, Zhou X, Gong H, Yin J, Liu Y (2020) Silicon confers cucumber resistance to salinity stress through regulation of proline and cytokinins. Plant Physiol Biochem 156:209–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2020.09.014
Acknowledgements
Financial assistance provided by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, is thankfully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study’s conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by PS, VK, and AS; writing—review and editing—were carried out by PS, VK, JS, and Asha Sharma; writing—original draft preparation—was performed by PS, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no competing interest.
Informed consent
Not applicable.
Additional information
Communicated by Ildikó Karsai.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Singh, P., Kumar, V., Sharma, J. et al. Evaluation of silicon-facilitated growth performances and regulation of Na+ and K+ homeostasis in salt-stressed wheat varieties. CEREAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 52, 515–530 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-023-00397-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42976-023-00397-z