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Silicon Application Increases Biomass Yield in Sunflower by Improving the Photosynthesizing Leaf Area

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Abstract

Sunflower is an oilseed plant important for food and biodiesel production. One cheap way to increase sunflower production is by the application of silicon (Si), which has shown to be beneficial in plants under a series of stresses. We analyzed if the application of Si in sunflower affected the CO2 assimilation, N uptake, leaf quantity and quality, and total biomass yield. No difference was observed in the gas exchange measurements or in leaf N concentration. The total leaf area increased in plants applied with even the lowest dose of Si, with no loss to the net CO2 assimilation rate or leaf N concentration. The higher total leaf area of the plants treated with Si resulted in an increase of the total CO2 assimilation by the plant. Plants treated with any dose of Si had an increase of 24–39% in biomass yield. Statistically, the increase in biomass was explained by the total CO2 assimilation in the plant. If the increment in biomass yield is proportional to the oilseed production, we estimate that Si application in sunflower can increase profit by up to 22%. Large-scale experiments are needed to better determine the proper Si dose to be applied and the oilseed production.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the funding provided by the Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (CAPES) and National Council for Science and Technology (CNPq). MMP would like to thank CAPES for the funds provided from the PNPD (National Program of Post-Doctorate). RAF would like to thank CNPq for the PQ 291 funds process number 306329/2019-0 and DGR process number 310070/2015-5.

Availability of Data and Material

Data is available upon request to the correspondence author.

Funding

This project was funded by the Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (CAPES) and National Council for Science and Technology (CNPq) under the PQ funds process number 306329/2019–0 granted to RAF. MMP was hired using the Postdoctoral grant from the PNPD (National Program of Post-Doctorate) provided by CAPES.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade Vegetal, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Campus Samambaia, Caixa Postal 131, CEP 74001-970, Goiânia, GO, Brazil

    Murilo de Melo Peixoto & Dalva Graciano-Ribeiro

  2. Escola de Agronomia, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Avenida Esperança, s/n. Campus Samambaia, CEP: 74.690-900, Goiânia, GO, Brazil

    Rilner Alves Flores, Charlismilã Amorim do Couto, Haryel Domingos N. Pacheco & José Arnaldo Castro-Netto

  3. Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV), Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Campus de Jaboticabal, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castellane s/n, Jaboticabal, CEP, SP, 14884-900, Brazil

    Renato de Mello Prado & Jonas Pereira Souza-Junior

Authors
  1. Murilo de Melo Peixoto
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  2. Rilner Alves Flores
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  3. Charlismilã Amorim do Couto
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  4. Haryel Domingos N. Pacheco
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  5. Renato de Mello Prado
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  6. Jonas Pereira Souza-Junior
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  7. José Arnaldo Castro-Netto
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  8. Dalva Graciano-Ribeiro
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Contributions

MMP led the data analysis and led the writing with input of all co-authors. CAC, RAF and RMP designed the experiment and provided overall project leadership. CAC and JCN grew the plants, applied the treatments and collected data. JSJ was responsible for the lab analysis. HDNP collected photosynthesis data under supervision of MMP and DGR. DGR provided equipment for photosynthesis data collection. RAF and RMP provided all structure for the experiment.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Murilo de Melo Peixoto.

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All experiments were conducted ethically and no issues regarding ethical issues arouse during the experiments or the manuscript confection.

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All authors freely agreed and gave their consent to participate on the experiment.

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All authors freely agreed and gave their consent for the publication of this paper.

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de Melo Peixoto, M., Flores, R.A., do Couto, C.A. et al. Silicon Application Increases Biomass Yield in Sunflower by Improving the Photosynthesizing Leaf Area. Silicon 14, 275–280 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-020-00818-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-020-00818-2

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