Abstract
Arsenic (As) contamination in the soil adversely affects crop productivity, grain quality, and human health. A pot experiment was performed to assess the sole and combined effects of Si and biochar on growth, physiological and antioxidant defense mechanisms, yield, and grain quality of maize. Soil treatments comprised of control (no treatment), As, Si, biochar, Si + biochar, As + Si, As + biochar, and As + Si + biochar placed in a completely randomized design with three replications. As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)], while increasing the activities of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 43.51%, peroxidase (POD) by 47.93%, catalase (CAT) by 47.98%, and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) by 59.02%, as well as that of lipid peroxidation in the leaves of maize. In addition, As contamination reduced the grain yield and yield-related attributes relative to the respective controls. Among the soil applications, the interactive effect of Si and biochar improved maize grain yield (12.12%) by triggering activities of enzymatic antioxidants and proline contents and reducing the H 2 O 2 and MDA contents. The combined application of Si and biochar enhanced the Si contents in shoots of the control and As-contaminated plants, while significantly reducing As concentration in shoots (69%) and grains (142%). In conclusion, the combined application of Si and biochar was found to be a fruitful soil amendment strategy to improve the yield of maize and reduce the toxic limit of As under As-contaminated soil. The results of this study may be useful for the cultivation of food crops under AS-contaminated soils, but before commercial recommendation, more trails are required under field conditions.
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Claims 19
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity reduced chlorophyll a in maize.
Zea maysNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity reduced chlorophyll b in maize.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity reduced chlorophyll a + b in maize.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity reduced soluble protein in maize.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity reduced amino acids in maize.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity reduced total soluble sugars in maize.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity reduced phenolic contents in maize.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity increased superoxide dismutase activity in maize leaves.
- Organ / stage
- leavese2
- Treatment
- As toxicitye1
- Outcome
- superoxide dismutase (SOD)e2
- Direction
- increasinge2
- Value
- 43.51%e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
e2“while increasing the activities of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 43.51%, peroxidase (POD) by 47.93%, catalase (CAT) by 47.98%, and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) by 59.02%, as well as that of lipid peroxidation in the leaves of maize”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity increased peroxidase activity in maize leaves.
- Organ / stage
- leavese2
- Treatment
- As toxicitye1
- Outcome
- peroxidase (POD)e2
- Direction
- increasinge2
- Value
- 47.93%e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
e2“while increasing the activities of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 43.51%, peroxidase (POD) by 47.93%, catalase (CAT) by 47.98%, and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) by 59.02%, as well as that of lipid peroxidation in the leaves of maize”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity increased catalase activity in maize leaves.
- Organ / stage
- leavese2
- Treatment
- As toxicitye1
- Outcome
- catalase (CAT)e2
- Direction
- increasinge2
- Value
- 47.98%e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
e2“while increasing the activities of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 43.51%, peroxidase (POD) by 47.93%, catalase (CAT) by 47.98%, and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) by 59.02%, as well as that of lipid peroxidation in the leaves of maize”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity increased ascorbate peroxidase activity in maize leaves.
- Organ / stage
- leavese2
- Treatment
- As toxicitye1
- Outcome
- ascorbate peroxidase (APX)e2
- Direction
- increasinge2
- Value
- 59.02%e2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
e2“while increasing the activities of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 43.51%, peroxidase (POD) by 47.93%, catalase (CAT) by 47.98%, and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) by 59.02%, as well as that of lipid peroxidation in the leaves of maize”
Claim · model-written summary
As contamination reduced maize grain yield and yield-related attributes relative to the controls.
- Treatment
- As contaminatione3
- Outcome
- grain yield and yield-related attributese3
- Direction
- reducede3
- Comparator
- the respective controlse3
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e3“As contamination reduced the grain yield and yield-related attributes relative to the respective controls”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined Si and biochar improved maize grain yield by 12.12% in As-contaminated soil.
- Treatment
- Si and biochare4
- Outcome
- maize grain yielde4
- Direction
- improvede4
- Value
- 12.12%e4
- Qualifier
- by triggering activities of enzymatic antioxidants and proline contentse4
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e4“Among the soil applications, the interactive effect of Si and biochar improved maize grain yield (12.12%) by triggering activities of enzymatic antioxidants and proline contents and reducing the H 2 O 2 and MDA contents”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined Si and biochar enhanced Si contents in maize shoots of the control and As-contaminated plants.
- Organ / stage
- shootse5
- Treatment
- combined application of Si and biochare5
- Outcome
- Si contentse5
- Direction
- enhancede5
- Comparator
- the controle5
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e5“The combined application of Si and biochar enhanced the Si contents in shoots of the control and As-contaminated plants, while significantly reducing As concentration in shoots (69%) and grains (142%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined Si and biochar significantly reduced arsenic concentration in maize shoots by 69%.
- Organ / stage
- shootse5
- Treatment
- combined application of Si and biochare5
- Outcome
- As concentratione5
- Direction
- significantly reducinge5
- Value
- 69%e5
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e5“The combined application of Si and biochar enhanced the Si contents in shoots of the control and As-contaminated plants, while significantly reducing As concentration in shoots (69%) and grains (142%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined Si and biochar significantly reduced arsenic concentration in maize grains by 142%.
- Organ / stage
- grainse5
- Treatment
- combined application of Si and biochare5
- Outcome
- As concentratione5
- Direction
- significantly reducinge5
- Value
- 142%e5
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e5“The combined application of Si and biochar enhanced the Si contents in shoots of the control and As-contaminated plants, while significantly reducing As concentration in shoots (69%) and grains (142%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Combined Si and biochar reduced H2O2 and MDA contents in maize.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e4“Among the soil applications, the interactive effect of Si and biochar improved maize grain yield (12.12%) by triggering activities of enzymatic antioxidants and proline contents and reducing the H 2 O 2 and MDA contents”
Claim · model-written summary
As toxicity increased lipid peroxidation in maize leaves.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e1“As toxicity significantly reduced chlorophyll a (5.18%), chlorophyll b (33.87%), chlorophyll a + b (11.67%), and primary metabolites [soluble protein (54.93%), amino acids (24.85%), total soluble sugars (39.77%), and phenolic contents (25.88%)]”
e2“while increasing the activities of enzymatic antioxidants such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) by 43.51%, peroxidase (POD) by 47.93%, catalase (CAT) by 47.98%, and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) by 59.02%, as well as that of lipid peroxidation in the leaves of maize”
Claim · model-written summary
The combined application of Si and biochar is a fruitful soil amendment strategy to improve maize yield and reduce arsenic toxicity in As-contaminated soil.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“arsenic stress in maize”
e6“In conclusion, the combined application of Si and biochar was found to be a fruitful soil amendment strategy to improve the yield of maize and reduce the toxic limit of As under As-contaminated soil”
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See all 18 papers →8 of 16 groups shown: named compounds and organisms first, then groups whose results differ (checked claim by claim), then those with positive and negative results, then the smaller groups.
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.