VOLUME 9 - ISSUE 1 (January 2016) - page 4

© Benaki Phytopathological Institute
Sakr 2
dons (Table 1). The exact nature of protec-
tive effects of silicon in plants is uncertain
and presently a subject of debate (Van Bock-
haven et al., 2013). However, functions in-
cluding physical and/or biochemical protec-
tion systems have been proposed (Datnoff
et al., 2007). The aims of this review are to
underline the agronomic importance of sil-
icon in plant crops, to present the potential
for controlling fungal plant pathogens by
silicon treatment, to refer to different mech-
anisms of silicon-enhanced resistance, and
to explain the inhibitory effects of silicon on
phytopathogenic fungi in vitro.
2. Silicon and plants
Although silicon has not been considered as
an essential element for plant nutrition, ac-
cording to the classical definition of essen-
tiality (Arnon and Stout, 1939), it is regard-
Table 1. Pathosystems on which the role of silicon in reducing the fungal disease incidence
has been studied.
Host plant Fungal pathogen Reference
Barley Alternaria spp. Kunoh and Ishiazaki (1975)
Wheat Septoria nodorum Leusch and Buchenauer (1989)
Erysiphe graminis Leusch and Buchenauer (1989)
Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici Guevel et al. (2007)
Rice Pyricularia oryzae Domiciano et al. (2015)
Bipolaris oryza Dallagnol et al. (2011)
Magnaporthe grisea Rodrigues et al. (2005)
Rhizoctonia solani Zhang et al. (2013)
Corn Pythium aphanidermatum Sun et al. (1994)
Fusarium graminearum Sun et al. (1994)
Fusariummoniliforme Sun et al. (1994)
Banana Mycospaerella fijiensis Kablan et al. (2012)
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Fortunato et al. (2012)
Pearl millet Sclerospora graminicola Deepak et al. (2008)
Arabidopsis Erysiphe cichoracearum Ghanmi et al. (2004)
Rose Diplocarpon rosae Gillman et al. (2003)
Podosphaera pannosa Shetty et al. (2012)
Common bean Colletotrichum lindemuthianum Polanco et al. (2014)
Soya bean Phakospora pachyrhizi Arsenault-Labrecque et al. (2012)
Bean Pseudocercospora griseola Rodrigues et al. (2010)
Pea Mycospaerella pinodes Dann and Muir (2002)
Strawberry Sphaerotheca aplanis Kanto et al. (2006)
Cherry Penicillium expansum Qin and Tian (2005)
Monilinia fructicola Qin and Tian (2005)
Potato Fusarium sulphureum Li et al. (2009)
Belle pepper Phytophthora capsici French-Monar et al. (2010)
Tomato Pythium aphanidermatum Heine et al. (2007)
Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici Huang et al. (2011)
Cucumber Pythium ultimum Cherif et al. (1992)
Pythium aphanidermatum Cherif et al.,(1992)
Sphaerotheca fuliginea Menzies et al. (1991)
Podosphaera xanthii Fawe et al. (1998)
Colletotrichum lagenarium Liang et al. (2005)
Bitter melon Pythium aphanidermatum Heine et al. (2007)