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. 2021 Feb 1;10(2):280.
doi: 10.3390/plants10020280.

Accumulation of Silicon and Changes in Water Balance under Drought Stress in Brassica napus var. napus L

Diana Saja-Garbarz  1 , Agnieszka Ostrowska  1 , Katarzyna Kaczanowska  1 , Franciszek Janowiak  1
Affiliations

Accumulation of Silicon and Changes in Water Balance under Drought Stress in Brassica napus var. napus L

Diana Saja-Garbarz et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the accumulation of silicon in oilseed rape and to characterize the changes in chosen water balance parameters in response to drought. The following parameters were estimated: water content, osmotic and water potential, evapotranspiration, stomatal conductance and abscisic acid level under optimal and drought conditions. It was shown that oilseed rape plants accumulate silicon after its supplementation to the soil, both in the case of silicon alone and silicon together with iron. It was revealed that silicon (without iron) helps maintain constant water content under optimal conditions. While no silicon influence on osmotic regulation was observed, a transpiration decrease was detected under optimal conditions after silicon application. Under drought, a reduction in stomatal conductance was observed, but it was similar for all plants. The decrease in leaf water content under drought was accompanied by a significant increase in abscisic acid content in leaves of control plants and those treated with silicon together with iron. To sum up, under certain conditions, silicon is accumulated even in non-accumulator species, such as oilseed rape, and presumably improves water uptake under drought stress.

Keywords: canola; iron; orthosilicic acid; stress tolerance; water deficit; water management.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Amount of water evaporated in 24 h. Measurements were performed on pots with oilseed rape plants every day for 10 days during growth under optimal conditions or drought (Experiment 2). Prior to the 10 days, the plants grew for 44 days under optimal conditions and were watered three times with water (control), silicon and iron (Si + Fe), or only silicon (Si). The means (n = 15) ± SD (standard deviation) marked with the same letter do not differ significantly (Fisher’s multiple range test, p < 0.05).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Water content in leaves of oilseed rape. Plants grew first for 44 days under optimal conditions and were watered three times with water (control), silicon and iron (Si + Fe), or only silicon (Si), and afterwards for 10 days under optimal conditions or drought, after which water content measurements were performed (Experiment 2). The means (n = 9) ± SD marked with the same letter do not differ significantly (Duncan’s multiple range test, p < 0.05).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Stomatal conductance in leaves of oilseed rape. Plants grew first for 44 days under optimal conditions and were watered three times with water (control), silicon and iron (Si + Fe), or only silicon (Si), and afterwards for 10 days under optimal conditions or drought, after which stomatal conductance measurements were performed (Experiment 2). The means (n = 9) ± SD marked with the same letter do not differ significantly (Duncan’s multiple range test, p < 0.05).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Abscisic acid (ABA) in leaves of oilseed rape. Plants grew first for 44 days under optimal conditions and were watered three times with water (control), silicon and iron (Si + Fe), or only silicon (Si), and afterwards for 10 days under optimal conditions or drought, after which ABA measurements were performed (Experiment 2). The means (n = 9) ± SD marked with the same letter do not differ significantly (Duncan’s multiple range test, p < 0.05).
Figure 5
Figure 5
The scheme of two experiments conducted on oilseed rape plants. In both Experiments 1 and 2, plants grew for 44 days under optimal conditions and were watered three times with water (control), silicon and iron (Si + Fe), or silicon (Si). In Experiment 2, the plants then grew for 10 days under optimal conditions (A) or drought (B).
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