Identification of candidate genes regulated by silicon under drought or salt stress

Abstract

Silicon (Si) is the second most abundant element on the surface of the earth and in soils. The beneficial effects of Si on enhancing plant ability to tolerate and overcome multiple environmental stresses are generally recognized. To clarify the role of Si on plants tolerance to environmental stresses, we used Suppression Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) to identify candidate genes regulated by Si under salt or drought stress from cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.). Differentially expressed clones due to Si were further confirmed by differential screening using forward and reverse subtracted probes. An aquaporin belongs to the plasma membrane intrinsic protein (PIP) subgroup and a calcium binding protein genes were among twenty clones found to be regulated by Si addition under drought or salt stress. These results suggest that the effects of Si on enhancing plant stress tolerance might be due to the involvement of Si in inducing these genes under stressing environments.