Faculty of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Biological Sciences, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw, 01-938 Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Silviculture and Forest Tree Genetics, Forest Research Institute, 05-090 Sękocin Stary, Poland.
Genes (Basel). 2024 Sep 21;15(9):1233. doi: 10.3390/genes15091233.
Climate change is leading to severe and long-term droughts in European forest ecosystems. can have profound effects on various physiological processes, including photosynthesis, gene expression patterns, and nutrient uptake at the developmental stage of young trees. Our study aimed to test the hypothesis that the application of silica (SiO) influences photosynthetic efficiency and gene expression in 1- to 2-year-old (L.) seedlings. Additionally, we aimed to assess whether silicon application positively influences the structural properties of leaves and roots. To determine whether the plant physiological responses are genotype-specific, seedlings of four geographically different provenances were subjected to a one-year evaluation under greenhouse conditions. We used the Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Wilcoxon's test to evaluate the differences in silicon content and ANOVA followed by Tukey's test to evaluate the physiological responses of seedlings depending on treatment and provenance. Our results showed a significantly higher Si content in the roots compared with the leaves, regardless of provenance and treatment. The most significant differences in photosynthetic performance were found in trees exposed to Si treatment, but the physiological responses were generally nuanced and provenance-dependent. Expression of 70 and 90 was also increased in leaf tissues of all provenances. These results provide practical insights that Si can improve the overall health and resilience of beech seedlings in nursery and forest ecosystems, with possible differences in the beneficial role of silicon application arising from the large differences in wild populations of forest tree species.
气候变化导致欧洲森林生态系统出现严重和长期的干旱。这些变化可能对各种生理过程产生深远影响，包括光合作用、基因表达模式以及树木发育阶段的养分吸收。我们的研究旨在检验以下假设：施用硅（SiO）会影响 1 至 2 年生（L.）幼苗的光合作用效率和基因表达。此外，我们还旨在评估硅的应用是否会对叶片和根系的结构特性产生积极影响。为了确定植物生理反应是否具有基因型特异性，我们在温室条件下对来自四个不同地理位置的四个种源的幼苗进行了为期一年的评估。我们使用克鲁斯卡尔-沃利斯检验（Kruskal-Wallis test） followed by Wilcoxon 的检验（Wilcoxon's test）来评估硅含量的差异，以及使用方差分析（ANOVA） followed by 图基的检验（Tukey's test）来评估根据处理和种源的幼苗的生理反应。我们的结果表明，无论种源和处理如何，根系中的 Si 含量明显高于叶片。在暴露于 Si 处理的树木中，发现光合作用性能的差异最大，但生理反应通常细微且依赖于种源。所有种源的叶片组织中表达 70 和 90 的水平也有所增加。这些结果提供了实际的见解，即 Si 可以提高苗圃和森林生态系统中山毛榉幼苗的整体健康和恢复力，而森林树种野生种群的巨大差异可能导致硅应用的有益作用存在差异。
