Other uses of silicon
Silicon plays a large role in increasing plant resistance to abiotic and biotic adversity and is a chemical element essential for plants to resist adversity and regulate the interrelationship between plants and other organisms. For example, silicon can increase the hardness of plant stalks, and silicon can improve plant resistance to drought, salt stress, UV radiation and pests and diseases. Silicon can improve the resistance of rice to the longitudinal leaf borer. The defence response of rice to pest feeding is rapidly improved by the application of silicon, which acts as an alert for plant defence. When rice is attacked by insects, silicon alerts rice to the rapid activation of the jasmonic acid pathway, which is associated with resistance, and jasmonic acid signalling in turn promotes silicon uptake, with silicon and jasmonic acid signalling interacting to influence rice resistance to pests.
