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Article summary:

1. Silicon nutrition can reduce cadmium concentration in plants by regulating transpiration rate and activity of antioxidant enzymes.

2. Silicon application improved root and shoot dry matter of Cd-sensitive wheat cultivar, increased chlorophyll content and photosynthesis, decreased stomatal conductance and transpiration rate, and enhanced the activities of enzymatic antioxidants.

3. Silicon application decreased Cd accumulation in the roots and shoots of both Cd-tolerant and -sensitive wheat cultivars by decreasing transpiration rate in Cd-sensitive cultivar and increasing antioxidant activity in Cd-tolerant cultivar.

Article analysis:

The article “Silicon nutrition lowers cadmium content of wheat cultivars by regulating transpiration rate and activity of antioxidant enzymes” is a well-researched piece that provides an overview on how silicon nutrition can reduce cadmium concentration in plants through regulating transpiration rate and activity of antioxidant enzymes. The article is based on a hydroponics experiment conducted under natural conditions with two wheat cultivars – one tolerant to cadmium (Cd) stress (Iqbal-2000) and the other sensitive to it (Sehar-2006). The article is reliable as it provides detailed information on the experimental setup, materials used, methods employed, results obtained, discussion on the findings, conclusion drawn from the study, etc., which makes it easy for readers to understand the research process followed by the authors.

However, there are some potential biases that need to be considered when evaluating this article. Firstly, only two wheat cultivars were used for this experiment which may not be representative enough to draw general conclusions about all wheat varieties. Secondly, although the authors have discussed various aspects related to silicon nutrition such as plant growth performance, gas exchange attributes, enzymatic antioxidants activities etc., they have not explored any possible risks associated with silicon nutrition such as toxicity or other negative effects on plant health or yield potential. Thirdly, while discussing their findings related to silicon nutrition reducing cadmium concentration in plants through decreasing transpiration rate in Cd-sensitive cultivar and increasing antioxidant activity in Cd-tolerant cultivar, they have not presented any counterarguments or alternative explanations for their observations. Lastly, although the authors have mentioned that nutrient application could help produce low-Cd cereal grains as an alternative solution to growing low-Cd genotypes due to their low yield potential or susceptibility to