About this Research Topic
Silicon is a beneficial element that can favor the growth and productivity of crops, especially those cultivated under abiotic or biotic stress. Silicon protects plants from multiple stresses and improves plant adaptability under stress conditions. There are also reports indicating that it can benefit plants without stress. Thus, the role of this element to benefit plant nutrition is an important research topic as it minimizes the effects of stress and enhances the growth and productivity of crops without risk to the environment.
Climate change associated with inappropriate agricultural practices and the underuse of fertilizers and pesticides due to high prices can cause different stresses, especially in field crops. And given the need to increase crop productivity, it is mandatory to minimize these stresses and Si can play an important role in improving the sustainability of crops. In this scenario, in the last 20 years, there has been a lot of interest from the scientific community to research silicon in the soil and plant system. The scientific results are promising as there are a large number of stresses that Si can mitigate and knowledge about the underlying processes in soils and plants, such as absorption and biosilification, has advanced.
This Research Topic should bring together articles that deal with the most recent advances in knowledge about silicon's impact on soil and plant nutrition under different biotic and abiotic stress conditions. We invite original research and review articles around the following, but not limited to, topics:
• Mobility and availability of silicon in the soil
• Biogeochemical cycle of silicon in soil
• Advances in the chemical analysis of Si in the soil and plant
• Application modes, sources and doses of silicon for application via foliar spray, soil (solid or fluid) and cultures in containers with the use of nutrient solution
• Silicon absorption and transport processes in the plant
• Biosilification
• Silicon and the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense system
• Silicon in mitigating the effects of abiotic stresses: deficiency and toxicity of nutrients and potentially toxic elements, salinity, water deficit, cold, heat, high irradiation
• Silicon in mitigating the effects of biotic stresses: pathogens, insects and nematodes
• Silicon and nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms
• Silicon and essentiality for humans and the importance for biofortification; post-harvest quality of fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants
Climate change associated with inappropriate agricultural practices and the underuse of fertilizers and pesticides due to high prices can cause different stresses, especially in field crops. And given the need to increase crop productivity, it is mandatory to minimize these stresses and Si can play an important role in improving the sustainability of crops. In this scenario, in the last 20 years, there has been a lot of interest from the scientific community to research silicon in the soil and plant system. The scientific results are promising as there are a large number of stresses that Si can mitigate and knowledge about the underlying processes in soils and plants, such as absorption and biosilification, has advanced.
This Research Topic should bring together articles that deal with the most recent advances in knowledge about silicon's impact on soil and plant nutrition under different biotic and abiotic stress conditions. We invite original research and review articles around the following, but not limited to, topics:
• Mobility and availability of silicon in the soil
• Biogeochemical cycle of silicon in soil
• Advances in the chemical analysis of Si in the soil and plant
• Application modes, sources and doses of silicon for application via foliar spray, soil (solid or fluid) and cultures in containers with the use of nutrient solution
• Silicon absorption and transport processes in the plant
• Biosilification
• Silicon and the enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant defense system
• Silicon in mitigating the effects of abiotic stresses: deficiency and toxicity of nutrients and potentially toxic elements, salinity, water deficit, cold, heat, high irradiation
• Silicon in mitigating the effects of biotic stresses: pathogens, insects and nematodes
• Silicon and nitrogen-fixing and phosphate-solubilizing microorganisms
• Silicon and essentiality for humans and the importance for biofortification; post-harvest quality of fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants
Keywords: silicate, plant nutrition, soil chemistry, beneficial element, environmental stress
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
