Exogenous Si Mitigates the Effects of Cinnamic-Acid-Induced Stress by Regulating Carbon Metabolism and Photosynthetic Pigments in Cucumber Seedlings

Abstract

(1) Background: Cinnamic acid (CA) is a harmful substance secreted by the roots of continuous-cropping crops. (2) Methods: This study aimed to investigate how exogenous Si affects chlorophyll content and carbon metabolism in cucumber seedlings under CA-induced stress. (3) Results: The levels of chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll a+b, and carotenoids were significantly reduced due to CA-induced stress. The addition of exogenous Si significantly alleviated this reduction. Under CA-induced stress, exogenous Si significantly increased the activities of ribulose-1,5bisphosphate carboxylase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase, and transketolase. CA-induced stress significantly increased the fructose, glucose, and sucrose contents and reduced the starch content in the leaves and roots of seedlings. Similarly, the sucrose phosphate synthase, sucrose synthase, acid invertase, and neutral invertase activities were significantly reduced in plants under CA-induced stress. Overall, exogenous Si significantly reduced the soluble sugar content, increased the starch content, and promoted sucrose metabolism-related enzymatic activity in seedlings. (4) Conclusion: Exogenous Si can effectively increase the content of photosynthetic pigments in leaves of seedlings and maintain the balance of osmotic potential in the plant by reducing the accumulation of carbon assimilation products, which ultimately promotes tolerance to CA-induced autotoxicity stress.