A few months ago I was invited to host a Research Topic on plant silicon for the Frontiers in Plant Sciences (Nature Publishing Group). I’ve joined forces with Dr Jane DeGabriel to define and manage this Topic. Jane is the perfect partner as she has a strong interest in plant silicon following research on silicon in grasses and their impact on vole population cycles as a post-doc with Prof. Sue Hartley at the University of York. As well as sharing siliceous interests (with complimentary areas of specialisation) we now share an office at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at the University of Western Sydney.
Our Research Topic is entitled: Plant silicon interactions between organisms and the implications for ecosystems.
In this Frontiers topic, we will explore how the functions and fates of plant silicon interact with other organisms and ecosystem processes. By bringing together cross-disciplinary studies across multiple scales, we aim to present a unique global picture of how plants use silicon to gain a competitive advantage and the implications for ecology, agriculture, and ecosystem services. We hope this Research Topic not only advances the field of plant silicon research, but also offers a platform to bring the plant silicon community together from across these diverse disciplines and across the globe.
For more information or if you are interested in submitting an abstract to this Research Topic, please click on the link above.
Julia Cooke 
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