Abstract
Cadmium (Cd), being a highly toxic heavy metal, significantly impacts plant growth and development by altering nutrient uptake and causing oxidative and structural damage, resulting in reduced yield. To combat Cd toxicity and accumulation in wheat, it was hypothesized that co-application of Selenium (Se) and Silicon (Si) can reduce the adverse effect of Cd and regulate Cd resistance while improving Se fortification in wheat. Therefore, this study evaluated the comparative effect of Se and Si on the growth and antioxidant defense systems of wheat plants grown in a hydroponic setup. Briefly, the plants were acclimatized to the hydroponic solution for 1 week and then exposed to 10 µmol Cd. Afterwards, the treatments, including 0.2 mmol Si and 1.5 µmol Se, were applied as a root and foliar application, respectively. Plants supplemented with both Se and Si showed improved biomass and other physiological growth attributes, and this response was associated with improved activity/contents of antioxidants, including glutathione (GSH) content, glutathione reductase (GR), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and catalase (CAT), with related lowering of hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde content, and structural damages. Moreover, by Se + Si supplementation, a decrease in total S levels in plant tissues was observed, whereas an increase in total protein concentration and GSH indicated a different and novel mechanism of Cd tolerance and S homeostasis in the plant. It was observed that Si was more involved in significantly reducing Cd translocation by stabilizing Cd in the root and reducing its content in the soluble fraction in both the root and shoot. Whereas Se was found to play the main role in reducing the oxidative damage caused by Cd, and the effect was more profound in the shoot. In addition, this study also observed a positive correlation between Si and Se for relative uptake, which had not been reported earlier. Our findings show that the Se and Si doses together benefit growth regulation and nutrient uptake; additionally, their combinations support the Cd resistance mechanism in wheat through upregulation of the antioxidant system and control of Cd translocation and subcellular distribution, ultimately contributing to the nutritional quality of wheat produced. Thus, it is concluded that the co-application of Se and Si has improved the nutritional quality while reducing the Cd risk in wheat and therefore needs to be employed as a potential strategy to ensure food safety in a Cd-contaminated environment.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Combined selenium and silicon improved wheat biomass and physiological growth attributes under cadmium.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivumt0 - Treatment
- both Se and Sie0
- Outcome
- biomass and other physiological growth attributese0
- Direction
- improvede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Plants supplemented with both Se and Si showed improved biomass and other physiological growth attributes”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined supplementation increased antioxidant activity or content.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- Se + Si supplementatione1
- Outcome
- activity/contents of antioxidants, including glutathione (GSH) content, glutathione reductase (GR), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and catalase (CAT)e0
- Direction
- improvede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“improved activity/contents of antioxidants, including glutathione (GSH) content, glutathione reductase (GR), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and catalase (CAT)”
t0“Wheat”
e1“Se + Si supplementation”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined supplementation lowered hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, and structural damage.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde content, and structural damagese0
- Direction
- loweringe0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“with related lowering of hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde content, and structural damages.”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Selenium plus silicon decreased total sulfur in plant tissues.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- Se + Si supplementatione0
- Outcome
- total S levels in plant tissuese0
- Direction
- decreasee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“by Se + Si supplementation, a decrease in total S levels in plant tissues was observed”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Selenium plus silicon increased total protein concentration.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- Se + Si supplementatione1
- Outcome
- total protein concentratione0
- Direction
- increasee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“an increase in total protein concentration and GSH”
t0“Wheat”
e1“Se + Si supplementation”
Claim · model-written summary
Selenium plus silicon increased glutathione.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- Se + Si supplementatione1
- Outcome
- GSHe0
- Direction
- increasee0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“an increase in total protein concentration and GSH”
t0“Wheat”
e1“Se + Si supplementation”
Claim · model-written summary
Silicon significantly reduced cadmium translocation.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Organ / stage
- root and shoote0
- Treatment
- Sie0
- Outcome
- Cd translocatione0
- Direction
- reducinge0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Si was more involved in significantly reducing Cd translocation by stabilizing Cd in the root and reducing its content in the soluble fraction in both the root and shoot”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Silicon reduced soluble cadmium content in root and shoot.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Organ / stage
- root and shoote0
- Treatment
- Sie1
- Outcome
- content in the soluble fractione0
- Direction
- reducinge0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“reducing its content in the soluble fraction in both the root and shoot”
t0“Wheat”
e1“Se + Si supplementation”
Claim · model-written summary
Selenium reduced cadmium-induced oxidative damage, especially in shoots.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Organ / stage
- shoote0
- Treatment
- See0
- Outcome
- oxidative damage caused by Cde0
- Direction
- reducinge0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Se was found to play the main role in reducing the oxidative damage caused by Cd, and the effect was more profound in the shoot.”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Silicon and selenium relative uptake were positively correlated.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Compound
- Si and See0
- Outcome
- relative uptakee0
- Direction
- positive correlatione0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“a positive correlation between Si and Se for relative uptake”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend combined selenium and silicon to improve nutritional quality and reduce cadmium risk.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume0
- Treatment
- co-application of Se and Sie0
- Outcome
- needs to be employed as a potential strategye0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“co-application of Se and Si has improved the nutritional quality while reducing the Cd risk in wheat and therefore needs to be employed as a potential strategy”
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See all 61 papers →8 of 10 groups shown: named compounds and organisms first, then groups whose results differ (checked claim by claim), then those with positive and negative results, then the smaller groups.
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.