Identification of several rice genes regulated by Si nutrition

Rice plants were grown for 4 weeks in nutrient solutions containing 0, 0.015, 0.15, and 1.5 mm silicate. Si content in leaves was lower in the plants grown at low silicate concentrations. RNA was extracted from leaves and subjected to microarray analysis. Statistical analysis of the data from two independent hybridizations enabled to identify a number of candidate clones regulated by Si nutritional conditions. Quantitative reverse transcriptionme diated-PCR enabled to identify-five genes whose transcript accumulation was affected by Si nutrition.