Cell walls dominate the cellular allocation of silicon in sedges

Abstract

The degree of plant silicification is classically proxied by organ-scale silicon concentration, [Si], which ignores where Si is allocated at the cellular scale. Bridging this scale gap is crucial to elucidate the physiological and ecological roles of silicification in high-Si taxa and its influence on biogeochemical cycles. We used high-resolution X-ray microtomography and cellular-scale element mapping to study silica allocation and silicification patterns in 15 species from the second most-abundant Si-accumulating family worldwide, namely Cyperaceae (sedges). Despite considerable variation in deposition sites and cellular [Si] between species and anatomical areas, we show that at least 78±17% of silica is localized in the epidermis, mostly as a silica layer in the outer tangential cell wall (OTW). Both the thickness and cellular-scale [Si] of this continuous layer, which is up to 18 µm thick, were highly correlated to organ-scale [Si] among species. Our findings demonstrate that bulk silica content is largely governed by deposition in the OTW in sedges, rather than by deposition in cell lumina. These findings open new perspectives for Si-related plant physiological and biogeochemical processes and pave the way for the use of X-ray microtomography not only to visualize, but also to quantify biogenic silica allocation in plants.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{tombeur2026cell,
  title = {{Cell walls dominate the cellular allocation of silicon in sedges}},
  author = {Felix de Tombeur and Lucas Plouzeau and Peta Clode and Hans Lambers and Cyrille Violle and Kosala Ranathunge and Joanna Kotula and Jeremy Shaw and Patrick Hayes and Renaud Lebrun and Martin Hodson},
  journal = {Journal of Experimental Botany},
  year = {2026},
  month = may,
  doi = {10.1093/jxb/erag041},
  url = {https://hal.science/hal-05844668v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Cell walls dominate the cellular allocation of silicon in sedges
AU  - Felix de Tombeur
AU  - Lucas Plouzeau
AU  - Peta Clode
AU  - Hans Lambers
AU  - Cyrille Violle
AU  - Kosala Ranathunge
AU  - Joanna Kotula
AU  - Jeremy Shaw
AU  - Patrick Hayes
AU  - Renaud Lebrun
AU  - Martin Hodson
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/20
JO  - Journal of Experimental Botany
DO  - 10.1093/jxb/erag041
UR  - https://hal.science/hal-05844668v1
AB  - The degree of plant silicification is classically proxied by organ-scale silicon concentration, [Si], which ignores where Si is allocated at the cellular scale. Bridging this scale gap is crucial to elucidate the physiological and ecological roles of silicification in high-Si taxa and its influence on biogeochemical cycles. We used high-resolution X-ray microtomography and cellular-scale element mapping to study silica allocation and silicification patterns in 15 species from the second most-abundant Si-accumulating family worldwide, namely Cyperaceae (sedges). Despite considerable variation in deposition sites and cellular [Si] between species and anatomical areas, we show that at least 78±17% of silica is localized in the epidermis, mostly as a silica layer in the outer tangential cell wall (OTW). Both the thickness and cellular-scale [Si] of this continuous layer, which is up to 18 µm thick, were highly correlated to organ-scale [Si] among species. Our findings demonstrate that bulk silica content is largely governed by deposition in the OTW in sedges, rather than by deposition in cell lumina. These findings open new perspectives for Si-related plant physiological and biogeochemical processes and pave the way for the use of X-ray microtomography not only to visualize, but also to quantify biogenic silica allocation in plants.
SN  - 0022-0957
SN  - 1460-2431
ER  -

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