Silicon and Nano-silicon in Environmental Stress Management and Crop Quality Improvement

Dr. Hassan Etesami is a research scientist with 15 years of experience in the field of soil biology and biotechnology. He obtained his doctor’s degree from the Department of Soil Science, University College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Iran, where he is currently a member of the faculty. Dr Etesami has a special interest in developing biofertilizers and biocontrol agents that meet farmers’ demands. He has coauthored over 80 publications (research papers, review papers, and book chapters) in various areas including biofertilizers and biocontrol. He is also reviewer for the Journal of 98 journals. Dr. Etesami’s research areas include stressed-agricultural management by silicon, microbial ecology, bio-fertilizers, soil pollution, integrated management of abiotic (salinity, drought, heavy metals, and nutritional imbalance) and biotic (fungal pathogens) stresses, plant-microbe-interactions, environmental microbiology, and bioremediation. Dr. Abdullah H Al-Saeedi, Ph.D, Liverpool Polytechnic in soil physics and water management is now on the faculty of Agriculture and Food Science at King Faisal University. He has received many research grants from local authorities related to agriculture management and water management. He has worked in halophyte agriculture, salinity, and in the last 4 years has focused on nano silica applications in agriculture. He has published 4 master theses. Dr. Hassan El-Ramady holds a Ph.D. from Technical Uni. of Braunschweig, Faculty of Life Sciences, Germany in 2008. He teaches graduate and post graduate levels all courses related to soil fertility and plant nutrition, fertilizers and fertilization, soil and water management, and plant under stress. He also has missions and grants for Germany, Hungary, as well as scientific visits to Italy (Bari Uni.), Austria, Brazil (Sao Paolo), and the USA (Colorado State Uni.). A professor with more than twenty-eight years of academic experience in the teaching, scientific writing and research fields he also has edited the “The Soils of Egypt”, 26 chapters published by Springer and many cited articles. He is a member of several international societies including American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America, German Soil Science Society and German Society for Plant Nutrition. Masayuki Fujita is a Professor in the Department of Plant Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Kagawa University, Kagawa, Japan. He received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, and his M.Agr. and Ph.D. in Plant Biochemistry from Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan. His research interests include physiological, biochemical and molecular biological responses based on secondary metabolism in plants under biotic (pathogenic fungal infection) and abiotic (salinity, drought, extreme temperatures and heavy metals) stresses; phytoalexin, cytochrome P-450, glutathione S-transferase, phytochelatin and redox reaction and antioxidants. He has over 150 peer-reviewed publications and has multiple books. Dr. Mohammad Pessarakli is a Research Professor / Teaching Faculty, School of Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona doing research and extension services as well as teaching the Plants and Our World online course and courses in Turfgrass Science, Management, and Stress Physiology. He has published extensively in scientific and trade journals, and has edited several books as well as having written more than 20 book chapters. He is Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Plants & Agriculture Research Journal, is on multiple journal editorial boards, and is a member of the Book Review Committee of Crop Science Society of America. He is an active member of the ASA/CSA/SSSA among others. He is a Certified Professional Agronomist and Certified Professional Soil Scientist (CPAg/SS), designated by the American Registry of the Certified Professionals in Agronomy, Crop Science, and Soil Science and is a United Nations Consultant in Agriculture for underdeveloped countries. Dr. Mohammad Anwar Hossain is a Professor in the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), Bangladesh. He received his BSc in Agriculture and MS in Genetics and Plant Breeding from BAU, Bangladesh. He also received an M.S. in Agriculture from Kagawa University, Japan in 2008 and a PhD in Abiotic Stress Physiology and Molecular Biology from Ehime University, Japan in 2011 through Monbukagakusho scholarship. As a JSPS postdoctoral researcher he has worked on isolating low phosphorus stress tolerant genes from rice at the university of Tokyo, Japan during the period of 2015-2017. His current research program focuses on understanding physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying abiotic stresses in plants and the generation of stress tolerant and nutrient efficient plants through breeding and biotechnology. He has over 60 peer-reviewed publications and has edited multiple books.

• 1. Sources of silicon and nano-silicon in soil and plants2. Silicon and nano-silicon: New frontiers of biostimulants for plant growth and stress amelioration3. Silicon uptake, acquisition and accumulation in plants4. Silicon bioavailability in relation to plant nutrition5. Use of silicon and nano-silicon in agro-biotechnologies6. The genetics of silicon accumulation by plants7. Silicon-mediated modulations of genes and secondary metabolites in plants8. Silicon-mediated salt stress tolerance in plants9. Nano-silicon mediated salt stress tolerance in plants10. Silicon and nano-silicon mediated drought and waterlogging stress tolerance in plants11. Silicon and nano-silicon mediated heat stress tolerance in plants12. Silicon and nano-silicon mediated cold stress tolerance in plants13. Silicon and nano-silicon mediated heavy metal stress tolerance in plants14. Silicon and nano-silicon mediated disease resistance in crop plants15. Silicon and nano-silicon mediated nutrient deficiency tolerance in crop plants16. Silicon as a plant defence against insect herbivory17. Recent developments in nano-silicon mediated tolerance against herbivores18. Interactive effects of silicon, nano-silicon and arbuscular mycorrhiza on the resistance of plants to various stresses19. Biodissolution of silica by silicate solubilizing microorganisms in rhizosphere of plants20. Silicon and nano-silicon in plant nutrition and crop quality21. Effect of silicon and nano-silicon application on rice yield and quality22. Biological impacts on silicon availability and cycling in agricultural plant-soil systems23. Exogenous silicone-mediated plant growth and environmental stress tolerance in plants24. Manipulation of silicon metabolism in plants for stress tolerance25. Future research direction of silicon and nano-silicon in crop stress tolerance and crop quality improvements