Aluminium/silicon interactions in conifers

Aluminium/silicon interactions in conifers.

By the late 1990's I was convinced that silicon could ameliorate aluminium (aluminum in the US!) toxicity in a range of cereals (see Aluminium/silicon interactions and Aluminium/silicon interactions in cereals). We also had a lot of evidence that Al and Si were co-deposited in the needles of the conifers (see Mineral deposition in the conifers), and this may represent a tolerance mechanism. We reviewed this possibility in:

HODSON, M.J. & SANGSTER, A.G. (1999) Aluminium/silicon interactions in conifers. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 76, 89-98. Abstract

However, until recently no hydroponic Al/Si interaction experiments had been conducted, and so co-deposition may just have been a coincidence! Michelle Ryder helped to fill this gap, and our latest paper on the topic is:

RYDER, M., GERARD, F., EVANS, D.E. & HODSON, M.J. (2003) The use of root growth and modelling data to investigate amelioration of aluminium toxicity by silicon in Picea abies seedlings. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 97, 52-58.

My latest research student, Subramaniyam Prabagar from Sri Lanka, is now continuing this work on  in collaboration with David Evans (Oxford Brookes) and Frederic Gerard (Nancy, France).