The Ameliorative effects of silicon element on improvement of plants tolerance to diseases

Abstract

Silicon is the second most plentiful element in soil and is beneficial for a large variety of plants. It is concentrated in plant tissues in quantities similar to that of macronutrients. Considerable damages to plants caused by abiotic stresses such as drought stress, salinity stress, heavy metal stress and nutrient imbalance, as well as biotic stresses like insect pests and pathogens and even herbivorous attacks, have been reported to be reduced significantly by silicon application. It seems that better understanding about the function of silicon in plant would be help to improve production in areas with soils poor in silicon, since it has been known to have the ability to lessen vulnerability of plant against different kinds of diseases. Si provides many benefits to stressed plants including protection against attack from certain fungal, bacterial and virus pathogens. The studies have shown that silicon fertilization to be efficacious in controlling and mitigating severity of some diseases such as rice blast, powdery mildew, bacterial wilt, bacterial speck Tobacco ringspot virus and tobacco mosaic virus. Thus, more knowledge about silicon function can help farmers and agriculture industry to manage and control diseases effectively.