Acta Physiologiae Plantarum

, Volume 35, Issue 11, pp 3099–3107 | Cite as

Application of silicon improves salt tolerance through ameliorating osmotic and ionic stresses in the seedling of Sorghum bicolor

  • Lina Yin
  • Shiwen Wang
  • Jianye Li
  • Kiyoshi Tanaka
  • Mariko Oka
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:

Abstract

Silicon has been widely reported to have a beneficial effect on improving plant tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the mechanisms of silicon in mediating stress responses are still poorly understood. Sorghum is classified as a silicon accumulator and is relatively sensitive to salt stress. In this study, we investigated the short-term application of silicon on growth, osmotic adjustment and ion accumulation in sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) under salt stress. The application of silicon alone had no effects upon sorghum growth, while it partly reversed the salt-induced reduction in plant growth and photosynthesis. Meanwhile, the osmotic potential was lower and the turgor pressure was higher than that without silicon application under salt stress. The osmolytes, the sucrose and fructose levels, but not the proline, were significantly increased, as well as Na+ concentration was decreased in silicon-treated plants under salt stress. These results suggest that the beneficial effects of silicon on improving salt tolerance under short-term treatment are attributed to the alleviating of salt-induced osmotic stress and as well as ionic stress simultaneously.

Keywords

Ionic stress Osmotic stress Salt tolerance Silicon Sugar Water potential 

Abbreviations

DAT

Days after treatment

DW

Dry weight

E

Transpiration rate

FW

Fresh weight

gs

Stomatal conductance

LA

Leaf area

PN

Net photosynthetic rate

Ψπ

Osmotic potential

Ψp

Turgor pressure

Ψw

Water potential

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Notes

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31101597), West Light Foundation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Universities Scientific Fund (Z109021202) and 111 project of Chinese Education Ministry (B12007).

Supplementary material

11738_2013_1343_MOESM1_ESM.doc (88 kb)
Supplementary material 1 (DOC 88 kb)

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Copyright information

© Franciszek Górski Institute of Plant Physiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków 2013

Authors and Affiliations

  • Lina Yin
    • 1
    • 3
  • Shiwen Wang
    • 1
    • 2
  • Jianye Li
    • 2
  • Kiyoshi Tanaka
    • 3
  • Mariko Oka
    • 3
  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water ConservationNorthwest A&F UniversityYanglingChina
  2. 2.College of Natural Resources and EnvironmentNorthwest A&F UniversityYanglingChina
  3. 3.Faculty of AgricultureTottori UniversityTottoriJapan

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