Silicon ameliorates clubroot responses in Brassica napus, an omics based approach

Clubroot, caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae Woronin is a devastating soil-borne disease, causing severe yield losses in Brassica napus. Silicon plays an important role in mitigating several stresses and enhances plant resistance to phytopathogens. Through our study, we evaluated the potential of silicon in ameliorating clubroot resistance in susceptible B. napus, as well as the Si-induced modulation in gene expression and endogenous levels of phytohormones and metabolites using an omics approach. This is the first report that Si improves clubroot disease symptoms and alters several transcripts, along with changes in the phytohormone and metabolite profiles, which may provided insights into its mechanism of action.