Progress 07/01/24 to 06/30/25
Outputs Target Audience:Over the past year, the project has established a strong partnership among the three participating institutions (UH, UNGC, and PVAMU). This included monthly project progress discussions, presentations, and in-person lab visits. Besides establishing the resources (chemicals / consumables) to execute the work, we optimized, tested, and executed research experiments related to the three core objectives of the project. We assessed 15 soybean genotypes, and 10 more are currently in the greenhouse for data collection. The main focus of these experiments was to evaluate (i) silicate uptakes, (ii) plant biomass, (iii) CO2 fixing and storing in plant and soil, (iv) soil health (nutrients and microbial activities) in soybean plants exposed to saline conditions.We also established robust methods for soil analysis and testing using near-infrared spectroscopy and multispectral analysis alongside machine learning models. These methods will help us to predict and quantify soil health, specifically the silicates. During the project execution, two more spin-off research studies were identified that could provide more insight into the project plan. During year#1, the project research resulted in two research articles and one review paper in highly reputed and peer-reviewed journals. In addition, another review paper on combined abiotic stress (including salinity) is in the review process. These publications will provide strong knowledge to fellow scientists who are working on Silicon and soil health topics. The project activities are supporting the thesis research of two PhD students and one MS student who are focusing on soil biogeochemical cycling, salinity, soil health, and plant molecular physiology. The project activities also provided opportunities to 6 undergraduate students to perform capstone research. The project activities also helped to train a high school science teacher in soil health. In addition, the project activities were disseminated using social and electronic media using the University of Houston platforms. The project activities and research focus were also publicized on local TV and related electronic media, where the efforts of USDA-NIFA were acknowledged. The project has also strengthened collaboration across three institutions (UH, UNGC, and PVAMU) to jointly work on different aspects of this research. The monthly meeting of PD, Co-PDs, and related students involved has also increased the sharing of more knowledge and related expertise across the three institutions. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Graduate:The project activities are supporting the thesis research of two PhD students and one MS student. One PhD student is working on Silicate-Salinity and CO2 sequestration, whereas the other is working on understanding genetic mechanisms behind salinity tolerance and silicate localization in soybean crops. The MS student is working on screening around 50 vegetables, grasses, and commodity crops for silicate uptake, phytolith accumulation, and plant biomass production. Undergraduate:The project activities also provided opportunities for 6 undergraduate students to perform capstone research. These undergraduate students performed lab and greenhouse-based experiments to learn key skills related to research (planning, design, literature, data collection and analysis, communication, and problem-solving skills) and soil health-related topics. Also, we have incorporated one lecture session for undergraduate students on the importance of Soil Health as part of the Plant Biotechnology Course. School Teacher:The project activities also helped to train a high school science teacher in soil health. This is part of the teachHouston program. The teacher is undergoing training to understand the soil and soilless systems of plant growth and perform soil health analysis. Networking and Collaboration:This will help improve students' understanding of key concepts related to plant production. The project has also strengthened collaboration across three institutions (UH, UNGC, and PVAMU) to work jointly on different aspects of this research. The monthly meeting of PD, Co-PDs, and related students involved has also increased the sharing of more knowledge and related expertise across the three institutions. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Over the reporting period (2024-2025), we were extensively involved in disseminating key information about project planning and implementation. Research related information on the Si and soil health was published in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, print, electronic, and social media platforms were used to disseminate project information. This information was shared on the University of Houston's and PD's labwebsite and social media accounts. In addition, the project information was shared with the public and farmers through ABC Houston reporting. 1. University of Houston Part of a $7.9M Effort to Promote Soil Health. https://www.morningagclips.com/university-of-houston-part-of-a-7-9m-effort-to-promote-soil-health/ 2. "University of Houston researchers earn USDA grant to help make crops more weather-resilient," ABC Houston. (October 10, 2024). https://abc13.com/post/university-houston-researchers-earn-grant-united-states-department-agriculture-make-crops-more-weather-resilient/15460304/#:~:text=HOUSTON%2C%20Texas%20(KTRK)%20%2D%2D,as%20heatwaves%2C%20floods%20and%20droughts. 3. US (TX): University of Houston part of $7.9M USDA grant https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9671652/us-tx-university-of-houston-part-of-7-9m-usda-grant/ 4. Doing the Dirty Work: UH Part of $7.9M Initiative to Promote Soil Health and Tackle Climate Change," UH Research. (September 2024). https://stories.uh.edu/091224-doing-the-dirty-work-soil/index.html In year 2, we will be preparing a webpage to disseminate more scientific information related to salinity, soil health, and silicon application. This will help to reach out to wider audiences. We will also planpresentations to localfarmers on Soil Health from Fort Bend and Harris Counties. For this purpose, we will collaborate with AgriLife Extension Services. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting cycle, we will complete objective#1 and start work on objective#2. The following are the objectives and their milestone that will be achieved. Objective#1: Elucidate the Si mobilization and uptake in the rhizosphere with reactive nutrients and sequestration of CO2. Milestone 1.1: Determine Si mobilization and translocation in the plants with or without salinity Milestone 1.2: Explain the Si uptake with or without the presence of reactive nutrients Milestone 1.3: Elucidate Si and substrate nutrient management to influence rhizospheric and atmospheric carbon capture during salinity Milestone 1.4: Elucidate the root exudation during the Si uptake in salinity Objective#2: Investigate the effect of Si on physiological and molecular responses of soybean under salinity stress Milestone 2.1:Assess the effect of Si on agronomic and physiological parameters under salinity stress conditions in greenhouse-grownsoybean plants. Milestone 2.1:Evaluate the gene expression related to Si uptake and transport in Soybean cultivars. Milestone 2.2:Study transcriptome-based changes in response to Si and salinity application to identify candidate genes and pathways
Impacts What was accomplished under these goals?
The project focuses on elucidating mechanisms related to rhizosphere biogeochemistry, Si uptake, CO2 fixation, and enhancing soybean plant biomass in a saline soil system. In this reporting period (2024-2025), we worked on objectives #1 and #3 and partially on 2. The following are the details of work performed during this reporting period: Objective 1: Elucidate the Si mobilization and uptake in the rhizosphere with reactive nutrients and sequestration of CO2 Milestone 1.1: High Throughput Screening of ~30 soybean cultivars for Si uptake? and salinity tolerance: We obtained soybean seeds from USDA-GRIN and identified the abiotic stress-tolerant (specifically salinity stress) genotypes. We have screened 15 genotypes out of 30, and our target is to screen at least 45 genotypes for salinity tolerance and Si uptake. These genotypes include salinity-sensitive and resistant varieties. We performed a high-throughput screening of soybean genotypes to screen them for Si influence on plant growth (biomass, chlorophyll, photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, and CO? assimilation rates) with or without saline conditions in soil. We screened more than 15 genotypes of soybean that were either salinity or abiotic stress tolerant. A randomized block design experiment was performed comprising (i) control, (ii) salinity (sodium chloride 18dS m−1), (iii) Si (5 g/kg soil magnesium silicates), and (iv) Si with salinity. A common agri-soil representative of Fort Bend and Harris Counties was used to grow plants till the vegetative stage-7 in greenhouse conditions. Results showed that silicon-treated plants under salinity exhibited significantly improved plant biomass (~24%; shoot-to-root length and dry root-shoot weight ratios) compared to non-Si salinity-treated plants, effectively restoring biomass levels in saline conditions. The root uptake of Si was non-significantly higher in non-saline soil conditions than in saline conditions, suggesting that salinity does not interfere with the Si uptake process. In genotypes, Lee, Lee-100, peaking, FT-abyara, NO-3093 green, Flyer, and Biloxi accumulated 2-fold higher Si content in rhizospheric soil in salinity compared to other genotypes. Similarly, the CO2 sequestration was recorded using photosynthetic efficiency and soil C-storage. Lee S-100, NO-3093 green, and FT-abyara showed a 1.5-fold rate increase in photosynthesis, with significantly higher soil organic carbon (~1.7-fold) in saline conditions for these genotypes. We are still in the process of analyzing the data, and our conclusion might change based on more screening in the coming reporting cycle. Thus, the project will assess a total of 45 genotypes. Milestone 1.2: Explain the Si uptake with or without the presence of reactive nutrients: We are in the process of performing a mesocosm experiment at the greenhouse level to understand the Si uptake in the presence of salinity and reactive nutrients (Ca, Mg, and Fe) to understand the Si mobilization and localization process in the rhizosphere. Milestone 1.3: Elucidate Si and substrate nutrient management to influence rhizospheric and atmospheric carbon capture during salinity. The changing environment and increasing CO2 levels have influenced rainfall patterns and soil chemistry. The short and long-term changes in soil chemistry impact carbon capture and storage (CCS) during plant growth. The photosynthetic process is key to CCS and maintaining plant biomass. We performed greenhouse and lab-based experiments to understand the effects of different Si sources (magnesium trisilicate and silicic acid) in combination with different soil types (agri-soil and sand). Magnesium trisilicate resulted in significantly higher biomass in agri-soil, suggesting a more effective role in promoting nutrient uptake and plant development compared to silicic acid. However, under nutrient-limited sand conditions, magnesium trisilicate-treated plants exhibited significantly improved health, shoot elongation, and biomass compared to controls. We used specialized CO2 sensor in rhizosphere and photosynthesis meter above ground to monitor CO2 capture in different soil and Si conditions during plant growth. We observed significantly higher photosynthesis rates and variable soil respiration patterns across Si sources and soil conditions. We are in the process of analyzing SOC and other soil health parameters (nutrient and microbial activities). This will be followed by nutrient management (fertilizer; NPK) and reactive nutrients to demonstrate the CCS potentials in the presence of Si and saline soil conditions. This will also help how Si application improves CCS and long-term soil health. Milestone 1.4: Elucidate the root exudation during the Si uptake in salinity. This will be performed in year 2. Objective#2: Investigate the effect of Si on the physiological and molecular responses of soybean under salinity stress. Objective#2 and the related milestones are planned for year 2 of the project. This will help elucidate the salinity tolerance and Si uptake molecular mechanisms in the most resilient soybean genotype. The team from UNGC will be performing this objective. In addition, we have also started identifying genes that are involved in Si uptake, specifically Nodulin 26-like Intrinsic Proteins (NIPs) in soybean. We are designing a gene-editing approach to clone NIPs in soybean plants using both knock-down and overexpression approaches to understand the potential physio-molecular mechanisms behind Si uptake in Soybean. This has been unexplored to date. The transgenic lines generated from this work will be evaluated for their physiological traits, including stress tolerance, silicon accumulation, and photosynthetic efficiency. Objective#3: Determine the CO2 sequestration process and perform phenotyping and biomass production assessment during Si application. Objective#3 and its related milestones are also in the process of execution and will be implemented on a large scale in year 3/4. To monitor Si and salinity, we are developing a new method using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and multispectral indices coupled with regression analysis. These spectral indices were selected because higher index values are typically indicative of improved above-ground vegetation health during salinity and Si treatments. We are in the process of optimizing and processing the protocol and analytical methods for 15 genotypes assessed (objective#1). This will help to establish a robust method for field-level analysis using multispectral analysis in year 3 of the project. For NIRS based approach, we have analyzed more than 300 soil samples from 15 genotypes during Si and salinity treatments to understand soil health parameters. The data is in the process of analysis using Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis in RStudio using the "pls" package with training and testing soil samples for health-related parameters. To get a better insight into the effects, we are adopting a neural network and a random forest-based machine learning approach to understand the data and make better decisions on each genotype. This will be another robust method developed for soil health, which will help in large-scale field-level analysis. In addition, a spin-off research work was also carried out to understand how Si application influences microbial health of rhizosphere. We performed next-generation sequencing approaches to show the microbiome diversity and function using Soybean plants (published). The diversity was insignificant in Si treatments; however, the bacterial diversity was found to be highly significant across soil, root, and leaf parts. We found Burkholderia and Bacillus as core species in Si supplementation, suggesting that these can play a key role in Si-solubilization in soil. We are developing a culture collection of Si-solubalizing microbes that could be used as microbial enrichment strategy to tackle salinity-related problems in agro-ecosystem.
Publications
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Khan AL. Silicon: A valuable soil element for improving plant growth and CO2 sequestration. Journal of Advanced Research. 2025 May 1;71:43-54.
- Type:
Peer Reviewed Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Ahmad, Waqar, Lauryn Coffman, Ram Ray, Selamawit Woldesenbet, Gurbir Singh, and Abdul Latif Khan. "Flooding episodes and seed treatment influence the microbiome diversity and function in the soybean root and rhizosphere." Science of The Total Environment 982 (2025): 179554.
- Type:
Other Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Khan, A N., Owens, L., Khan, A.L., Complexity and dynamics of combined climate change episodes on plants. Plant Stress
- Type:
Other Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2025
Citation:
Ahmad, W, Ray, R., Khan, A.L.*, Rhizospheric Silicates regulate microbiome function and plant defense responses during temperature stress. Plant Cell Environment
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