Photosynthetica 2018, 56(4):1047-1057 | DOI: 10.1007/s11099-018-0812-x

Silicon nutrition mitigates salinity stress in maize by modulating ion accumulation, photosynthesis, and antioxidants

W. U. D. Khan1,*, T. Aziz2, M. A. Maqsood2, M. Farooq3, Y. Abdullah1, P. M. A. Ramzani4, H. M. Bilal2
1 Sustainable Development Study Centre, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan
2 Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
3 Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
4 Cholistan Institute of Desert Studies, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, Pakistan

Silicon is known to improve resistance against salinity stress in maize crop. This study was conducted to evaluate the influence of silicon application on growth and salt resistance in maize. Seeds of two maize genotypes (salt-sensitive 'EV 1089' and salt-tolerant 'Syngenta 8441') were grown in pots containing 0 and 2 mM Si with and without 50 mM NaCl. After detailed investigation of ion concentrations in different maize organs, both genotypes were further selected in hydroponic experiment on basis of their contrasting response to salinity stress. In the second experiment, pre-germinated seedlings were transplanted into nutrient solution with 0 and 60 mM NaCl with and without 2 mM Si. Both genotypes differed significantly in their response to salinity. Silicon addition alleviated both osmotic and oxidative stress in maize crop by improving the performance of defensive machinery under salinity stress. Silicon application also improved the water-use efficiency in both tested genotypes under both normal and salinity stress conditions. In conclusion, this study implies that the silicon-treated maize plants had better chance to survive under salinity conditions and their photosynthetic and biochemical apparatus was working far better than that of silicon-non-treated plants.

Additional key words: chlorophyll; photosynthetic rate; total phenolics

Received: March 7, 2017; Accepted: July 28, 2017; Prepublished online: December 1, 2018; Published: November 1, 2018  Show citation

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Khan, W.U.D., Aziz, T., Maqsood, M.A., Farooq, M., Abdullah, Y., Ramzani, P.M.A., & Bilal, H.M. (2018). Silicon nutrition mitigates salinity stress in maize by modulating ion accumulation, photosynthesis, and antioxidants. Photosynthetica, 56(4), 1047-1057. doi: 10.1007/s11099-018-0812-x
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