Contents -- 1-Silicon biogeochemistry in terrestrial ecosystems -- Jörg Schaller, Daniel Puppe -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Silicon chemistry in soils -- 1.3 Silicon cycling in natural and agricultural plant-soil systems -- 1.3.1. Si bioavailability -- 1.3.2. Si cycling in natural plant-soil systems -- 1.3.3 Si cycling in agricultural plant-soil systems -- 1.4 Silicon mitigating drought -- 1.5 Si controlling nutrient availability and carbon turnover -- 1.6 Concluding remarks -- Reference -- 2- Silicon: transcellular and apoplastic absorption and transport in the xylem -- Rafael Ferreira Barreto, Lúcia Barão -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Active uptake of Si -- 2.3 Passive uptake of Si -- 2.4 Rejection uptake of Si -- 2.5 Si transport in the xylem -- Reference -- 3- Root silicification and plant resistance to stress -- Zuzana Lukacova, Boris Bokor, Marek Vaculík, Jana Kohanová, Alexander Lux -- Introduction -- Sites of Sideposition in roots -- Silicon transport in plants - from chemistry to cell biology and anatomy -- Silicification in the root cell walls -- Cellulose and Polysaccharides -- Lignin -- Callose -- Proteins -- Phytoliths -- Stegmata -- The function of silica deposits in roots -- Reference -- 4- Dynamics of silicon in soil and plant to establish silicate fertilization -- Brenda S Tubana -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Silicon in soils -- 4.3 Components of silicon cycle in soil -- 4.4 Bases of silicon fertilization -- 4.5 Conclusion -- 4.6 Reference -- 5- Innovative sources and ways of applying silicon to plants -- Rilner Alves Flores, Maxuel Fellipe Nunes Xavier -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Sources and ways of supplying Si to tropical crops -- 5.2.1 Silicon sources for soil application or fertigation in tropical regions -- 5.2.2 Silicon sources for foliar application in tropical regions -- 5.3 Final considerations -- Reference -- 6- Silicon mitigates the effects of nitrogen deficiency in plants -- Cid Naudi Silva Campos, Bianca Cavalcante da Silva 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Biochemical and physiological effects of N deficiency in plants -- 6.3 Beneficial effect of Si on plants under nutrient deficiency stress -- 6.4 Beneficial action of Si in tropical plants under N deficiency: how can Si mitigate the effects of N deficiency? -- 6.5 Concluding remarks -- Reference -- 7-Silicon mitigates the effects of phosphorus and potassium deficiency in plants -- Gustavo Caione -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Silicon in the plant -- 7.3 The role of silicon in potassium-deficient plants -- 7.4 The role of silicon in phosphorus-deficient plants -- Reference -- 8- Silicon mitigates the effects of calcium, magnesium and sulfur in plants -- Dalila Lopes da Silva, Renato de Mello Prado 8.1 The relationship calcium and silicon -- 8.1.1 General aspects -- 8.1.2 Sources of calcium and silicon -- 8.1.3 Physiological and biochemical benefits of silicon in mitigating nutritional calcium deficiency -- 8.2 The relationship between magnesium and silicon -- 8.3 The relationship between sulfur and silicon -- 8.4 Conclusions and future perspectives -- Reference -- 9- Silicon mitigates the effects of zinc and manganese deficiency in plants -- Kamilla Silva Oliveira, Guilherme Felisberto, Renato de Mello Prado -- 9.1 Zinc deficiency in tropical plants -- 9.2 Silicon mitigates the effects of zinc deficiency in tropical plants -- 9.2.1 Silicon influences zinc uptake and accumulation -- 9.2.2 Silicon acts on oxidative metabolism and reduces zinc deficiency symptoms -- 9.2.3 Silicon improves physiological responses and increases production in Zn-deficient plants -- 9.3 Manganese deficiency in tropical plants -- 9.4 Silicon mitigates the effects of manganese deficiency in tropical plants -- 9.4.1 Silicon influences manganese uptake and accumulation -- 9.4.2 Silicon acts on oxidative metabolism and reduces manganese deficiency symptoms -- Reference -- 10-Silicon mitigates the effects of boron deficiency and toxicity in plants -- Davie Kadyampakeni, Jonas Pereira de Souza Júnior -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Boron and silicon interaction in the development of tropical crops -- 10.2.1 Effect on soil solution and root system development -- 10.2.2 Effect on shoot growth and biomass production -- 10.2.3 Effect on the development of reproductive organs -- 10.3 Final considerations -- Reference -- 11- Silicon mitigates the effects of iron deficiency -- Luis Felipe Lata-Tenesaca, Diego Ricardo Villaseñor Ortiz -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Iron uptake and the benefits of Si -- 11.3 Iron redistribution and the benefits of Si -- 11.4 Effect of Si on oxidative stress in Fe-deficient plants -- 11.5 Final considerations and future perspectives -- Reference -- 12-Silicon mitigates the effects of aluminium toxicity -- Martin J. Hodson -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 A historical perspective -- 12.3 A Brief Consideration of silicon and aluminium in Soils -- 12.4 Silicon and aluminium uptake and accumulation by plants -- 12.4.1 Silicon uptake and accumulation -- 12.4.2 Aluminium uptake and accumulation -- 12.4.3 The interaction between silicon and aluminium uptake and accumulation -- 12.5 The amelioration of aluminium toxicity by silicon in experiments carried out in hydroponic cultures -- 12.5.1 Plant growth -- 12.5.2 Effects on mineral nutrition -- 12.5.3 Effects on oxidative damage -- 12.6 Co-deposition of silicon and aluminium -- 12.6.1 Co-deposition in roots -- 12.6.2 Co-deposition in conifer needles -- 12.6.3 Co-deposition in the leaves of dicot trees -- 12.6.4 Co-deposition in other systems -- 12.7. Possible mechanisms for the mitigation effect -- 12.7.1 Solution effects -- 12.7.2 Mitigation in root systems -- 12.7.3 Mitigation in shoot systems -- 12.7.4 Mitigation in tissue culture systems -- 12.8 Mitigation in plants grown in soil -- 12.9. Conclusion -- Reference -- 13- Structural role of silicon-mediated cell wall stability for ammonium toxicity alleviation -- Mikel Rivero-Marcos, Gabriel Barbosa Silva Júnior, Idoia Ariz 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 Metabolic targets and structural vulnerability in root cell membranes and cell walls in response to ammonium toxicity -- 13.2.1 High ammonium uptake increases AMT-dependent apoplastic acidification -- 13.2.2 Translocation of ammonium from the root increases ammonium assimilation and acidification in the shoot -- 13.2.3 Ammonium nutrition decreases protein N-glycosylation-dependent ammonium efflux and arrests root elongation -- 13.2.4 Internal ammonium accumulation initiates ROS-dependent cell wall lignification and limits cell growth -- 13.3 Repairing role of Si in plant cell structural components resulting from ammonium nutrition.

-- 13.3.1 Silicon decreases oxidative stress caused by excess ammonium -- 13.3.2 Structural role of Si in cell wall stability aiming at ammonium toxicity alleviation -- 13.3.3 Silicon supply mitigates ammonium toxicity symptoms related to plant growth and development -- 13.4 Conclusions and future perspective -- Reference -- 14- Silicon mitigates the effects of potentially toxic metals -- Lilian Aparecida de Oliveira, Flávio José Rodrigues Cruz, Dalila Lopes da Silva, Cassio Hamilton Abreu Junior, Renato de Mello Prado 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Hm stress mitigation mechanisms -- 14.3 Effects of silicon on absorption, transport and accumulation of Hm -- 14.4 Antioxidant defense mechanisms -- 14.5 Morphological alterations -- 14.6 Altering gene expression -- 14.7 Conclusions -- Reference -- -- 15- Beneficial role of silicon in plant nutrition under salinity conditions -- Alexander Calero Hurtado; Dilier Olivera Viciedo; Renato de Mello Prado -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.2 Silicon and salt stress remediation -- 15.3 Role of Si in decreasing Na+ uptake, transport, and accumulation -- 15.4 Increasing mineral uptake by Si under salt stress -- 15.5 Especial role of Si in increasing plant growth, biomass, and yield under salt stress -- 15.6 Conclusions -- Reference -- 16-Silicon mitigates the effects of water deficit in plants -- Gelza Carliane Marques Teixeira; Renato de Mello Prado -- 16.1 Introduction -- 16.2 Damage to tropical plants caused by water deficit -- 16.3 Plant defense system against damage caused by water deficit -- 16.4 Silicon for mitigating damage to tropical plants caused by water deficit -- 16.5 Fertigation and leaf spraying with silicon -- 16.6 Conclusion -- Reference -- 17-Association of silicon and soil microorganisms induces stress mitigation, increasing plant productivity -- Krishan K. Verma, Xiu-Peng Song, Munna Singh, Dan-Dan Tian, Vishnu D. Rajput, Tatiana Minkina, Yang-Rui Li -- 17.1 Introduction -- 17.2 Impact of Si and plant microbiome on plants -- 17.3 Role of plant rhizobacteria and Si on plants during environmental stress -- 17.4 Role of plant hormones with the application of plant microbes and silicon -- 17.5 Crop rotation and fertilizer use -- 17.6 Limitations and concluding remarks of the study -- Reference -- 18- Heat stress mitigation by silicon nutrition in plants: a comprehensive overview -- Jayabalan Shilpha, Abinaya Manivannan, Prabhakaran Soundararajan, Byoung Ryong Jeong -- 18.1 Introduction -- 18.2 Impact of heat stress on plants -- 18.3 Versatile functions of silicon in mitigating stress -- 18.4 Silicon in ROS homeostasis -- 18.5 Si-mediated regulation of heat stress tolerancein plants -- 18.5.1 Rice -- 18.5.2 Wheat -- 18.5.3 Barely -- 18.5.4 Date Palm -- 18.5.5 Tomato -- 18.5.6 Strawberry -- 18.5.7 Cucumber -- 18.5.8 Poinsettia -- 18.5.9 Salvia -- 18.6 Conclusions -- Reference -- 19-Silicon in plants mitigates damage against pathogens and insect pests -- Waqar Islam, Arfa Tauqeer, Abdul Waheed, Habib Ali, Fanjiang Zeng -- Introduction -- 19.2 Mechanisms of silicon against insect pests and pathogens -- 19.2.1 Formation of physical barrier -- 19.2.2 Biochemical mechanisms -- 19.2.3 Biochemical mechanism and physically barrier: a joint action -- 19.3 In-vivo and in-vitro application of silicon for disease and insect pest mana.