Pang Zhihao, de Tombeur Félix, Hartley Sue E, Zohner Constantin M, Nikolic Miroslav, Violle Cyrille, Mo Lidong, Crowther Thomas W, Guan Dong-Xing, Luo Zhongkui, Zhu Yong-Guan, Wang Yuxiao, Zhang Ping, Peng Hongyun, Strömberg Caroline A E, Nikolic Nina, Liang Yongchao
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
CEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France.
Nat Commun. 2025 Jan 29;16(1):1155. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-56438-0.
Research on silicon (Si) biogeochemistry and its beneficial effects for plants has received significant attention over several decades, but the reasons for the emergence of high-Si plants remain unclear. Here, we combine experimentation, field studies and analysis of existing databases to test the role of temperature on the expression and emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants. We first show that Si is beneficial for rice under high temperature (40 °C), but harmful under low temperature (0 °C), whilst a 2 °C increase results in a 37% increase in leaf Si concentrations. We then find that, globally, the average distribution temperature of high-Si plant clades is 1.2 °C higher than that of low-Si clades. Across China, leaf Si concentrations increase with temperature in high-Si plants (wheat and rice), but not in low-Si plants (weeping willow and winter jasmine). From an evolutionary perspective, 77% of high-Si families (>10 mg Si g DW) originate during warming episodes, while 86% of low-Si families (<1 mg Si g DW) originate during cooling episodes. On average, Earth's temperature during the emergence of high-Si families is 3 °C higher than that of low-Si families. Taken together, our evidence suggests that plant Si variation is closely related to global and long-term climate change.
几十年来，关于硅（Si）生物地球化学及其对植物有益影响的研究受到了广泛关注，但高硅植物出现的原因仍不清楚。在这里，我们结合实验、实地研究和对现有数据库的分析，来测试温度对陆地植物硅化作用表达和出现的影响。我们首先表明，硅在高温（40°C）下对水稻有益，但在低温（0°C）下有害，而温度每升高2°C，叶片硅浓度就会增加37%。然后我们发现，在全球范围内，高硅植物类群的平均分布温度比低硅类群高1.2°C。在中国各地，高硅植物（小麦和水稻）的叶片硅浓度随温度升高而增加，而低硅植物（垂柳和迎春花）则不然。从进化的角度来看，77%的高硅科（>10毫克硅/克干重）起源于气候变暖时期，而86%的低硅科（<1毫克硅/克干重）起源于气候变冷时期。高硅科出现时地球的平均温度比低硅科高3°C。综合来看，我们的证据表明植物硅的变化与全球和长期气候变化密切相关。
