Abstract Selenium (Se) and silicon (Si) are the beneficial elements that may significantly modify plants’ tolerance to various types of biotic and abiotic stress. They may be particularly important due to the current climate changes. The aim of model experiments was to assess how selenium and silicon could alleviate short-term drought stress in French marigold (Tagetes patula L. “Pascal”). Tagetes plant species are economically important annual plants and are also very popular decorative flowering species in city parks due to its beautiful colored flowers and resistance on drought stress. Silicon was applied in the form of silica sol and choline-stabilized orthosilicic acid (ch-OSA). Selenium was applied in the form of sodium selenate (Na2SeO4). They were tested at the following concentrations (mg dm−3 of NS): silica sol – level I (23.25), level II (31.0); ch-OSA – level I (0.21), level II (0.63); and Se – level I (0.4), level II (0.8). The experiment showed that silicon had stimulating effect on the biometric parameters of control plants cultivated under an optimal water regime. When the plants treated with selenium were exposed to stress, the values of their biometric parameters were generally higher than in the plants treated with silicon. Both silicon and selenium significantly modified the gas exchange parameters. During the growing season, the net photosynthesis activity (P N), stomatal conductance (g s), and transpiration rate (E) tended to decrease, but they increased significantly when selenium and silicon were applied. In general, the factors significantly modified the plants’ content of macro- and micronutrients as well as the proportions between them. Both selenium and silicon alleviated the short-term drought stress in French marigolds as a model plant, but when silicon was applied, the positive effect was modified by the source and its concentration.

中文翻译：

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硒和硅在减轻法国万寿菊（Tagetes patula L.）作为模式植物的短期干旱胁迫中的应用

摘要 硒（Se）和硅（Si）是可以显着改变植物对各种生物和非生物胁迫耐受性的有益元素。由于当前的气候变化，它们可能特别重要。模型实验的目的是评估硒和硅如何缓解法国万寿菊（Tagetes patula L.“Pascal”）的短期干旱胁迫。万寿菊是经济上重要的一年生植物，由于其美丽的彩色花朵和抗旱胁迫，也是城市公园中非常受欢迎的装饰性开花物种。硅以硅溶胶和胆碱稳定的原硅酸 (ch-OSA) 的形式应用。硒以硒酸钠 (Na2SeO4) 的形式应用。它们在以下浓度（NS 的 mg dm-3）下进行了测试：硅溶胶 - I 级 (23.25)，二级（31.0）；ch-OSA——I级（0.21），II级（0.63）；和Se - I级（0.4），II级（0.8）。实验表明，硅对在最佳水分条件下栽培的对照植物的生物特征参数具有刺激作用。当用硒处理的植物受到胁迫时，它们的生物特征参数值通常高于用硅处理的植物。硅和硒都显着改变了气体交换参数。在生长季节，净光合作用（PN）、气孔导度（gs）和蒸腾速率（E）有降低的趋势，但当施用硒和硅时，它们显着增加。总的来说，这些因素显着改变了植物宏量和微量营养素的含量以及它们之间的比例。