Convergent evidence for the temperature-dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants
Abstract 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 t...
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| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56438-0 |
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| author | Zhihao Pang Félix de Tombeur Sue E. Hartley Constantin M. Zohner Miroslav Nikolic Cyrille Violle Lidong Mo Thomas W. Crowther Dong-Xing Guan Zhongkui Luo Yong-Guan Zhu Yuxiao Wang Ping Zhang Hongyun Peng Caroline A. E. Strömberg Nina Nikolic Yongchao Liang |
| author_facet | Zhihao Pang Félix de Tombeur Sue E. Hartley Constantin M. Zohner Miroslav Nikolic Cyrille Violle Lidong Mo Thomas W. Crowther Dong-Xing Guan Zhongkui Luo Yong-Guan Zhu Yuxiao Wang Ping Zhang Hongyun Peng Caroline A. E. Strömberg Nina Nikolic Yongchao Liang |
| author_sort | Zhihao Pang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract 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−1 DW) originate during warming episodes, while 86% of low-Si families (<1 mg Si g−1 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e1c1b04a1a40417b98641f9afa2dcc53 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-e1c1b04a1a40417b98641f9afa2dcc532025-02-02T12:32:35ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-0116111310.1038/s41467-025-56438-0Convergent evidence for the temperature-dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plantsZhihao Pang0Félix de Tombeur1Sue E. Hartley2Constantin M. Zohner3Miroslav Nikolic4Cyrille Violle5Lidong Mo6Thomas W. Crowther7Dong-Xing Guan8Zhongkui Luo9Yong-Guan Zhu10Yuxiao Wang11Ping Zhang12Hongyun Peng13Caroline A. E. Strömberg14Nina Nikolic15Yongchao Liang16Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang UniversityCEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRDSchool of Biosciences, University of SheffieldInstitute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)Institute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of BelgradeCEFE, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, EPHE, IRDInstitute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)Institute of Integrative Biology, ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang UniversityMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang UniversityState Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang UniversityMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang UniversityMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang UniversityDepartment of Biology, University of WashingtonInstitute for Multidisciplinary Research, University of BelgradeMinistry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment Remediation and Ecological Health, College of Environmental & Resource Sciences, Zhejiang UniversityAbstract 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−1 DW) originate during warming episodes, while 86% of low-Si families (<1 mg Si g−1 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.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56438-0 |
| spellingShingle | Zhihao Pang Félix de Tombeur Sue E. Hartley Constantin M. Zohner Miroslav Nikolic Cyrille Violle Lidong Mo Thomas W. Crowther Dong-Xing Guan Zhongkui Luo Yong-Guan Zhu Yuxiao Wang Ping Zhang Hongyun Peng Caroline A. E. Strömberg Nina Nikolic Yongchao Liang Convergent evidence for the temperature-dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants Nature Communications |
| title | Convergent evidence for the temperature-dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants |
| title_full | Convergent evidence for the temperature-dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants |
| title_fullStr | Convergent evidence for the temperature-dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Convergent evidence for the temperature-dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants |
| title_short | Convergent evidence for the temperature-dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants |
| title_sort | convergent evidence for the temperature dependent emergence of silicification in terrestrial plants |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56438-0 |
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