Author: Hassan Etesami
Citation: Etesami, Hassan. "Unveiling a Hidden Synergy: Empowering Biofertilizers for Enhanced Plant Growth with Silicon in Stressed Agriculture." Plant, Cell & Environment 48.3 (2025): 2411-2433.
Abstract:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pce.15300
Food security is increasingly threatened by climate change and environmental pressures that hinder plant growth and development. Harnessing soil microorganisms, such as mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting bacteria, offers a promising approach to boost crop production. However, existing screening methods for these microorganisms often prove ineffective in real-world, stress-prone environments, limiting the efficacy of microbial biofertilizers. To address this challenge, this review proposes the integration of silicon—renowned for its stress-mitigating properties in plants—with biofertilizers. Silicon has been shown to work synergistically with plant growth-promoting microorganisms, enhancing plant resilience to environmental stress while improving colonization efficiency and plant-microbe interactions in stressful conditions. By combining silicon with biofertilizers to create silicon-enriched biofertilizers, this strategy has the potential to optimize microbial performance and fortify food security against global challenges. The review advocates for the co-application of silicon and microbial biofertilizers as a sustainable solution to boost plant resilience against environmental stressors, thereby contributing to agricultural sustainability.
Author: Hassan Etesami
Citation: Etesami, Hassan. "Unveiling a Hidden Synergy: Empowering Biofertilizers for Enhanced Plant Growth with Silicon in Stressed Agriculture." Plant, Cell & Environment 48.3 (2025): 2411-2433.
Abstract:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pce.15300
Food security is increasingly threatened by climate change and environmental pressures that hinder plant growth and development. Harnessing soil microorganisms, such as mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth-promoting bacteria, offers a promising approach to boost crop production. However, existing screening methods for these microorganisms often prove ineffective in real-world, stress-prone environments, limiting the efficacy of microbial biofertilizers. To address this challenge, this review proposes the integration of silicon—renowned for its stress-mitigating properties in plants—with biofertilizers. Silicon has been shown to work synergistically with plant growth-promoting microorganisms, enhancing plant resilience to environmental stress while improving colonization efficiency and plant-microbe interactions in stressful conditions. By combining silicon with biofertilizers to create silicon-enriched biofertilizers, this strategy has the potential to optimize microbial performance and fortify food security against global challenges. The review advocates for the co-application of silicon and microbial biofertilizers as a sustainable solution to boost plant resilience against environmental stressors, thereby contributing to agricultural sustainability.