Variable silicon accumulation in plants affects terrestrial carbon cycling by controlling lignin synthesis.

Current climate and land-use changes affect regional and global cycles of silicon (Si), with yet uncertain consequences for ecosystems. The key role of Si in marine ecology by controlling algae growth is well recognized but research on terrestrial ecosystems neglected Si since not considered an essential plant nutrient. However, grasses and various other plants accumulate large amounts of Si, and recently it has been hypothesized that incorporation of Si as a structural plant component may substitute for the energetically more expensive biosynthesis of lignin.

The carbon count of 2000 years of rice cultivation.

More than 50% of the world's population feeds on rice. Soils used for rice production are mostly managed under submerged conditions (paddy soils). This management, which favors carbon sequestration, potentially decouples surface from subsurface carbon cycling.

Pteris vittata - revisited: uptake of As and its speciation, impact of P, role of phytochelatins and S.

Pteris vittata is known to hyperaccumulate As but the mechanism is poorly understood. We found an increase of As concentration with increasing soil solution As concentrations, but P application had no impact, although plant P concentrations responded to different rates of P supply. As in fronds was dominantly (82-89%) present in the form of AsIII.

Competitive mobilization of phosphate and arsenate associated with goethite by root activity.

Arsenate (As V) is the predominant form of arsenic in soils under aerobic conditions and competes with the major plant nutrient phosphorus (P) in the form of phosphate (PV) not only for sorption sites on mineral surfaces in soil but also for root membrane transporters. Plants have evolved several mechanisms for the mobilization of PV in soils in response to P deficiency, such as the release of organic anions and protons. The aim of the present study was to test whether these mechanisms result in a simultaneous mobilization of arsenate and what would be the consequences for As transfer from soil to plant.