Silicon crosstalk with reactive oxygen species, phytohormones and other signaling molecules.

Fascinating impact of silicon and silicon transporters in plants: A review

Alleviating soil degradation caused by watermelon continuous cropping obstacle: Application of urban waste compost.

Silicon (Si) plays an important role in mitigating adverse effects of various biotic and abiotic stresses including drought. Polyhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of Si on growth, yield and fruit quality of cantaloupe under drought stress. The treatments consisted of four Si fertilizer doses (0, 100, 200 and 400 kg ha−1) applied in the form of silicic acid [H4SiO4, 20% Si content] and three soil moisture regimes (100%, 75% and 50% field capacity [FC]). Growth, yield and fruit quality were significantly (p < 0.01) affected by decreasing soil moisture level. Yield and water productivity were reduced by 63–69% and 19–34%, respectively, at different Si fertilizer doses when soil moisture was reduced from 100% to 50% FC. Overall, application of Si fertilizer was beneficial at all soil moisture regimes. There was no significant difference in yield and water productivity among four Si fertilizer doses at 50% FC, while these parameters were increased by 18–27% and 16–22%, respectively, at 75% FC and by 10–19% and 2–12%, respectively, at 100% FC with increasing Si fertilizer dose. Flesh thickness and total soluble solids content were also higher in Si-fed plants than the control. Application of silicic acid at 200 and 400 kg ha−1 maximized yield at 75% and 100% FC, respectively, and hence could be recommended as optimum doses. Selection of proper Si dose in synchronization with soil moisture level could be critical in cantaloupe production when soil moisture is a limiting factor.

Effects of Silicon on Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality of Cantaloupe under Drought Stress

The novel-weapons and homeland-security hypotheses are based on the idea that aliens and natives are not adapted to each other’s allelochemicals as they did not co-evolve. However, as only a few studies have tested this, it remains unclear how important co-evolutionary history is in determining the strength of allelopathic interactions between aliens and natives. Here, we tested for potential pairwise allelopathic effects on each other of five alien and five native herbaceous species in China. We did a germination experiment and a competition experiment. In the germination experiment, we tested whether aqueous extracts of the ten study species had allelopathic effects on each other’s seed germination. In the competition experiment, we tested whether the alien and native species differed in their competitive effects and responses, and whether these were changed by the presence of activated carbon—a presumed allelopathy neutralizer– in the soil. Plant extracts had negative allelopathic effects on seed germination. This was particularly the case for extracts from the native species. Moreover, aqueous extracts had slightly stronger negative effects on germination of the aliens than on germination of the natives. In the competition experiment, on the other hand, the natives suffered more from competition than the alien species did, but we could not relate this to allelopathy. Alien plants had negative competitive and allelopathic effects on native plants, but the reverse was also true. These alien-native interactions, however, were not consistently stronger or weaker than native-native or alien-alien interactions.

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Allelopathic and Competitive Interactions Between Native and Alien Plants

Alleviating effect of silicon on melon seed germination under autotoxicity stress

The utility model relates to a hydroponic device for researching the autotoxicity of melons The hydroponic device comprises a hydroponic box, a plurality of hydroponic chambers are arranged in an inner cavity of the hydroponic box, a pore plate of the hydroponic box is provided with a plurality of groups of mounting through holes corresponding to the hydroponic chambers, fixing sponges for fixingmuskmelon plant seedlings are arranged in the mounting through holes, and root systems of the muskmelon plant seedlings extend into the hydroponic chambers The muskmelon autotoxicity experiment device is simple and reasonable in structural design and convenient to use, space can be effectively saved, consistency of experiment conditions is ensured, muskmelon autotoxicity can be conveniently observed, and the development situation of muskmelon plant seedlings under different combinations of autotoxicity effects or under a single condition is relieved

Fan Jiaru

Papers

Alleviating effect of silicon on melon seed germination under autotoxicity stress

Melon autotoxicity research water culture device