Author(s)

Cid Naudi Silva Campos^1*, Renato de Mello Prado², Cassiano Garcia Roque³, Antonio João de Lima Neto⁴, Luiz Junior Pereira Marques⁵, Aridênia Peixoto Chaves⁶, Claudia Amaral Cruz⁷

¹Department of Soils and Fertilizers, Universidade Estadual Paulista/FCAV, Jaboticabal, Brazil.
²Department of Soils and Fertilizers, Universidade Estadual Paulista/FCAV, Jaboticabal, Brazil.
³Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Chapadão do Sul, Brazil.
⁴Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil.
⁵Department of Applied Biology and Agriculture, Universidade Estadual Paulista/FCAV, Jaboticabal, Brazil.
⁶Department of Plant Science, Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-árido, Mossoró, Brazil.
⁷M.Sc. in Agronomy, Natal, Brazil.

Silicon is a beneficial element that can mitigate abiotic stresses, such as ammonium toxicity. The objective herein was to evaluate the effects of silicon (Si) on mitigating toxicity caused by excess ammonium in maize plants grown in nutrient solution. An experiment was conducted with maize plants (cultivar DKB 390 VT Pro II) grown in a greenhouse in pots (8 L) in a hydroponic system. The treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial, consisting of two ammonium concentrations (30 and 60 mmol·L^-1) in the absence and presence of Si (10 mmol·L^-1), arranged in a completely randomized design with six repetitions. At 28 days after applying the treatments the dry mass of shoots and roots was evaluated, along with accumulation of silicon and nitrogen in the shoots. The use of silicon resulted in increases in the studied variables, regardless of ammonium concentrations. Silicon reduced the effect of toxicity caused by ammonium excess in maize plants, resulting in greater growth and dry matter accumulation.

Zea mays L., Beneficial Element, Nitrogen, Nutritional Disorder, Abiotic Stress

Silva Campos, C. , Mello Prado, R. , Garcia Roque, C. , de Lima Neto, A. , Pereira Marques, L. , Peixoto Chaves, A. and Cruz, C. (2015) Use of Silicon in Mitigating Ammonium Toxicity in Maize Plants. American Journal of Plant Sciences, 6, 1780-1784. doi: 10.4236/ajps.2015.611178.