Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Silicon Coating on Maize Seed Mitigates Saline Stress in Yermosols of Southern Punjab

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Silicon Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Silicon (Si) has been identified as a key nutrient in plants to lower the pressures of environmental stress. In pot experiment, seeds of different maize hybrids (Pioneer-1543, Monsanto-6103 and Monsanto-6724) were coated with different concentrations of Si viz. 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg kg− 1 seed using H2SiO3. Salinity was imposed by adding NaCl (120 mM) into the soil. Saline stressed (without Si coating) plants were observed with a significant decrease in growth and yield, Chl a and b, soluble contents of sugars and proteins, contents of free amino acids and phenols, leaf relative water content (LRWC), superoxide dismutase, catalase, peroxidase and brings only increased in proline contents. However, plants developed from Si coated seeds were recorded with significant improvements in growth and different physiological parameters. Moreover, among Si coated maize, coating with 20 mg Si proved maximum growth and yield in saline condition, which was came with the improvement in photosynthetic contents, osmoprotectants and antioxidant. Furthermore, Si coated plants have significantly lower proline compare than saline stress alone. Taken above results together, it is concluded that Si has significant role in reducing adverse behavior of NaCl in maize growth through bringing a improvement in leaf relative water contents, keeping normal working of chl a and b that enhanced the osmoprotectants concentration rather than proline and motivate the antioxidant system. Thus, our study suggested that Si coating is a viable strategy that can be implemented to bring a significant improvement in maize under saline condition.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data Availability

All data is presented in this article.

References

  1. Malčovská SM, Dučaiová Z, Bačkor M (2014a) Impact of silicon on maize seedlings exposed to short-term UV-B irradiation. Biologia 69:1349–1355

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Xu N, Yrle K, Miller P (2004) Co-regulation of ear growth and internode elongation in corn. Plant Growth Reg 44:231–241

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Govt. of Pakistan (2016-17) Pakistan economic survey. 2017-18, economic adviser’s Wing, Finance Division, Government of Pakistan, Islamabad. pp 121

  4. Banziger M, Araus J (2007) Recent advances in breeding maize for drought and salinity stress tolerance. Ad. Mol. Breeding Towards Drought Salt Tolerant Crops, pp 587–601

  5. Hasegawa PM, Bressan RA, Jhu JK (2000) Plant cellular and molecular responses to high salinity. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 51:463–499

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Hamayun M, Sohn EY, Khan SA, Shinwari ZK, Khan AL, Lee IJ (2010) Silicon alleviates the adverse effects of salinity and drought stress on growth and endogenous plant growth hormones of soybean (Glycine max L.). Pak J Bot 42:1713–1722

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Wakeel A, Asif AR, Pitann B (2011) Proteome analysis of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) elucidates constitutive adaptation during the first phase of salt stress. J Plant Physiol 168:519–526

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Zhang JL, Flowers TJ (2010) Mechanisms of sodium uptake by roots of higher plants. Plant Soil 326:45–60

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Vinocur B, Altman A (2005) Recent advances in engineering plant tolerance to abiotic stress: achievements and limitations. Curr Opinion Biotech 16:123–132

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Abbas MA, Younis ME, Shukry WM (1991) Plant growth, metabolism and adaptation in relation to stress conditions. XIV. Effect of salinity on the internal solute concentrations in Phaseolus vulgaris. J Plant Physiol 138:722–727

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Akram NA, Ashraf M (2011) Pattern of accumulation of inorganic elements in sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) plants subjected to salt stress and exogenous application of 5-aminolevulinic acid. Pak J Bot 43:521–530

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Parida AK, Das AB (2005) Salt tolerance and salinity effects on plants: a review. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 60:324–349

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Munns R (2002) Comparative physiology of salt and water stress. Plant Cell Env 25:239–250

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Peng YL, Gao ZW, Gao Y (2008) Eco-physiological characteristics of Alfalfa seedlings in response to various mixed salt‐alkaline stresses. J Integra Plant Biol 50:29–39

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Gao Z, Han J, Mu C, Lin J (2014) Effects of saline and alkaline stresses on growth and physiological changes in oat (Avena sativa L.) seedlings. Not Bot Horti Agro Bot 42:357–362

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Munns R, James RA, Lauchli A (2006) Approaches to increasing the salt tolerance of wheat and other cereals. J Exp Bot 57:1025–1043

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Sudhir P, Murthy SDS (2004) Effects of salt stress on basic processes of photosynthesis. Photosynthetica 42:481–486

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. McCord JM (2000) The evolution of free radicals and oxidative stress. Am J Medi 108:652–659

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Noreen S, Ashraf M (2009) Exogenous application of Salicylic acid enhances antioxidative capacity in salt stressed sunflower (Helianthus annus L.) plants. Pak J Bot 41:473–479

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Sahebi M, Hanafi MM, Siti-Nor-Akmar A (2015) Importance of silicon and mechanisms of biosilica formation in plants. BioMed Res Int

  21. Mendes LD, Souza CHE, Machado VN (2011) Adubação com silício: influência sobre o solo, planta, pragas e patógenos. Cerrado Agrociências 2:51–63

    Google Scholar 

  22. Ma JF, Yamaji N (2006) Silicon uptake and accumulation in higher plants. Trends Plant Sci 11:392–397

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Hasanuzzaman M, Nahar K, Fujita M (2013) Plant response to salt stress and role of exogenous protectants to mitigate salt-induced damages. Eco Physiol Respon Plants under Salt Stress, pp 25–87

  24. Sawas D, Ntatsi G (2015) Biostimulant activity of silicon in horticulture. Scientia Horti 196:66–81

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Balakhnina T, Borkowska A (2013) Effects of silicon on plant resistance to environmental stresses: review. Int Agrophys 27:225–232

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Zhu Y, Gong H (2014) Beneficial effects of silicon on salt and drought tolerance in plants. Agron Sustain Dev 34:455–472

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Rizwan M, Ali S, Ibrahim M (2015) Mechanisms of silicon-mediated alleviation of drought and salt stress in plants: a review. Environ Sci Poll Res 22:15416–15431

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Rehman A, Farooq M (2013) Boron application through seed coating improves the water relations, panicle fertility, kernel yield and biofortification of fine grain aromatic rice. Acta Physiol Plant 35:411–418

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Rocha I, Ma Y, Souza-Alonso P, Vosátka M, Freitas H, Oliveira RS (2019) Seed coating: A tool for delivering beneficial microbes to agricultural crops. Front Plant Sci 10:1357

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Rehman A, Farooq M, Nawaz A, Iqbal S, Rehman A (2012) Optimizing the boron seed coating treatments for improving the germination and early seedling growth of fine grain rice. Int J Agric Biol 14:453–456

    Google Scholar 

  31. Zelonka L, Stramkale V, Vikmane M (2005) Effect and after-effect of barley seed coating with phosphorus on germination, photo-synthetic pigments and grain yield. Acta Universitatis Latviensis 691:111–119

    Google Scholar 

  32. Giang PL, Gowda R (2007) Influence of seed coating with synthetic polymers and chemicals on seed quality and storability of hybrid rice (Oryza sativa L.). Omonrice 15:68–74

    Google Scholar 

  33. Scott JM (1989) Seed coatings and treatments and their effects on plant establishment. Adv Agron 42:43–83

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Hameed A, Sheikh MA, Jamil A (2013) Seed priming with sodium silicate enhances seed germination and seedling growth in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under water deficit stress induced by polyethylene glycol. Pak J Life Soc Sci 11:19–24

    Google Scholar 

  35. Paull JG, Cartwright B, Rathjen AJ (1988) Responses of wheat and barley genotypes to toxic concentrations of soil boron. Euphytica 39:137–144

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Ryan J, Estefan G, Rashid A (2001) Soil and plant analysis laboratory manual. International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Islamabad, Pakistan, pp 172

  37. Piper CS (1966) Soil and plant analysis; A laboratory manual of methods for the examination of soils and the determination of the inorganic constituents of plants. Hans Publishers, Bombay

  38. Jackson ML (1973) Methods of chemical analysis. Prentice Hall of India. Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, p 498

  39. Radi AA, Abdel-Wahab DA, Hamada AM (2012) Evaluation of some bean lines tolerance to alkaline soil. J Biol Earth Sci 2:18–27

    Google Scholar 

  40. Lichtenthaler HK, Wellburn AR (1983) Determinations of total carotenoids and chlorophylls a and b of leaf extracts in different solvents. Biochem Soc Trans 11:591–592

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Bates LS, Wladren PR, Tear DT (1973) Rapid determination of free proline for water-stress studies. Plant Soil 39:205–207

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Yemm EW, Willis AJ (1954) The estimation of carbohydrates extracts by anthrone. Biochem J 57:508–514

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Bradford MM (1976) A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein binding. Anal Biochem 72:248–254

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Lee YP, Takanashi T (1966) An improved colorimetric determination of amino acids with the use of ninhydrin. Anal Biochem 14:71–77

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Skerget M, Kotnik P, Hadolin M (2005) Phenols, proanthocyanidins, flavones and antioxidant activities. Food Chem 89:191–198

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Garíca-Mata C, Lamattina L (2001) Nitric oxide induces stomatal closure and enhances the adaptive plant responses against drought stress. Plant Physiol 126:1196–1204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Murkherje SP, Choudhuri MA (1983) Implication of water stress-induced changes in the levels of endogenous ascorbic acid and hydrogenperoxide in Vigna seedlings. Physiol Plant 58:166–170

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Giannopolitis CN, Ries SK (1977) Super oxide dismutases. I. Occurrence in higher plants. Plant Physiol 59:309–314

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  49. Aebi H (1984) Catalase in vitro. Method Enzym 105:121–126

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  50. Maehly AC, Chance B (1954) The assay of catalase and peroxidase. Methods of Biochemical Analysis. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 357–425

    Google Scholar 

  51. Klapheck S, Zimmer I, Cosse H (1990) Scavenging of hydrogen peroxide in the endosperm of Ricinus communis by ascorbate peroxidase. Plant Cell Physiol 31:1005–1013

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. SAS Institute (2008) SAS/STAT 9.1 User’s Guide the Regular Procedure, (Book Excerpt). SAS Institute, Cary

    Google Scholar 

  53. Steel RGD, Torrie JH, Dickey DA (1997) Principles and procedures of statistic: A biometrical approach, 3rd edn. Mc Graw Hill Book Co. Inc, New York, pp 400–428

  54. Minitab Inc (1998) MINITAB release 12 for windows. Brooks/Cole, Pacific Grove

  55. Abd-Alla MH, El-Enany AWE, Nafady NA, Khalaf DM, Morsy FM (2014) Synergistic interaction of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viciae and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi as a plant growth promoting biofertilizers for faba bean (Vicia faba L.) in alkaline soil. Microbiol Res 169:49–58

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  56. Mohsenian Y, Roosta HR (2015) Effects of grafting on alkali stress in tomato plants: datura rootstock improve alkalinity tolerance of tomato plants. J Plant Nutri 38:51–72

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Habibi G, Hajiboland R (2013) Alleviation of drought stress by silicon supplementation in pistachio (Pistaciavera L.) plants. Folia Hort 25:21–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Tripathi P, Tripathi RD, Singh RP (2013) Silicon mediates arsenic tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.) through lowering of arsenic uptake and improved antioxidant defence system. Eco Engine 52:96–103

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Shen X, Xiao X, Dong Z (2014) Silicon effects on antioxidative enzymes and lipid peroxidation in leaves and roots of peanut under aluminum stress. Acta Physiol Plant 36:3063–3069

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Shi DC, Zhao KF (1997) Effects of NaCl and Na2CO3 on growth of Puccinellia tenuiflora and on present state of mineral elements in nutrient solution. Acta Pratacult Sin 6:51–61

    Google Scholar 

  61. Latef AA, Alhmad MA, Sallam MM (2014) Comparative study on the physiological response of two wheat cultivars to salinity stress. Assiut Univ J Bot 43:55–69

    Google Scholar 

  62. Mostofa MG, Rahman A, Ansary MMU (2015) Hydrogen sulfide modulates cadmium-induced physiological and biochemical responses to alleviate cadmium toxicity in rice. Sci Rep 5:1–17

    Google Scholar 

  63. Ashraf MY, Akhtar K, Sarwar G, Ashraf M (2005) Role of the rooting system in salt tolerance potential of different guar accessions. Agron Sustain Dev 25:243–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Hamdia MA, Shaddad MAK, Doaa MM (2004) Mechanisms of salt tolerance and interactive effects of Azospirillum brasilense inoculation on maize cultivars grown under salt stress conditions. Plant Growth Regul 44:165–174

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  65. Hamdia MA, Shaddad MAK (2010) Salt tolerance of crop plants. J Stress Physiol Biochem 6:64–90

    Google Scholar 

  66. Latef AAHA, Chaoxing H (2014) Does inoculation with Glomus mosseae improve salt tolerance in pepper plants? J Plant Growth Regul 33:644–653

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  67. Zhang Y, Zhang L, Hu XH (2014) Exogenous spermidine-induced changes at physiological and biochemical parameters levels in tomato seedling grown in saline-alkaline condition. Bot Stud 55:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Soundararajan P, Sivanesan I, Jana S, Jeong BR (2014) Influence of silicon supplementation on the growth and tolerance to high temperature in Salvia splendens. Hort Environ Biotechnol 55:271–279

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  69. Abbas T, Balal RM, Shahid MA, Pervez MA, Ayyub CM, Aqueel MA, Javaid MM (2015) Silicon-induced alleviation of NaCl toxicity in okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) is associated with enhanced photosynthesis, osmoprotectants and antioxidant metabolism. Acta Physiol Plant 37:6

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  70. Habibi G (2015) Exogenous silicon leads to increased antioxidant capacity in freezing stressed pistachio leaves. Acta Agric Slov 105:43–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  71. Karmollachaab A, Gharineh MH (2015) Effect of silicon application on wheat seedlings growth under water-deficit stress induced by polyethylene glycol. Iran Agric Res 34:31–38

    Google Scholar 

  72. Van Bockhaven J, De Vleesschauwer D, Höfte M (2013) Towards establishing broad-spectrum disease resistance in plants: silicon leads the way. J Exp Bot 64:1281–1293

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  73. Aziz T, Maqsood MA, Sabir M, Ahmad HR, Ramzani PMA, Naseem M (2016b) Silicon: a beneficial nutrient under salt stress, its uptake mechanism and mode of action. In: Soil Science: Agricultural and Environmental Prospectives. Springer, Cham, pp 287–301

    Google Scholar 

  74. Shalata A, Neumann P (2001) Exogenous ascorbic acid (vitamin C) increases resistance to salt stress and reduces lipid peroxidation. J Exp Bot 52:2207–2211

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  75. Kim J, Lee J, Na HB, Kim BC, Youn JK, Kwak JH, Moon K, Lee E, Kim J, Park J, Dohnalkova A (2005) A magnetically separable, highly stable enzyme system based on nanocomposites of enzymes and magnetic nanoparticles shipped in hierarchically ordered, mesocellular, mesoporous silica. Small 1:1203–1207

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan for financial assistance during the study.

Funding

This research was supported by Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan

    Atique ur Rehman, Omer Farooq, Naeem Sarwar & Shakeel Ahmad

  2. Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, University of Sargodha, Sargodha, Pakistan

    Rafi Qamar & Abdul Rehman

  3. College of Agriculture, BZU, Bahadur Campus, Punjab, Layyah, Pakistan

    Allah Wasaya

  4. Soil and Water Testing Laboratory, Department of Agriculture, Government of Punjab, Chiniot, Pakistan

    Muhammad Mazhar Iqbal

Authors
  1. Atique ur Rehman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rafi Qamar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Abdul Rehman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Allah Wasaya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Omer Farooq
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Naeem Sarwar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Muhammad Mazhar Iqbal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Shakeel Ahmad
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Atique ur Rehman.

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interest

There is no conflict of interest among authors.

Ethics Approval

All authors approve the submission of this article.

Consent to Participate

All authors participated for this article.

Consent for Publication

All authors approve the submission of this article.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

ur Rehman, A., Qamar, R., Rehman, A. et al. Silicon Coating on Maize Seed Mitigates Saline Stress in Yermosols of Southern Punjab. Silicon 13, 4293–4303 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-020-00737-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-020-00737-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation