title: A three-dimensional multiscale model for gas exchange in fruit.
abstract: Respiration of bulky plant organs such as roots, tubers, stems, seeds, and fruit depends very much on oxygen (O2) availability and often follows a Michaelis-Menten-like response. A multiscale model is presented to calculate gas exchange in plants using the microscale geometry of the tissue, or vice versa, local concentrations in the cells from macroscopic gas concentration profiles. This approach provides a computationally feasible and accurate analysis of cell metabolism in any plant organ during hypoxia and anoxia. The predicted O2 and carbon dioxide (CO2) partial pressure profiles compared very well with experimental data, thereby validating the multiscale model. The important microscale geometrical features are the shape, size, and three-dimensional connectivity of cells and air spaces. It was demonstrated that the gas-exchange properties of the cell wall and cell membrane have little effect on the cellular gas exchange of apple (Malus×domestica) parenchyma tissue. The analysis clearly confirmed that cells are an additional route for CO2 transport, while for O2 the intercellular spaces are the main diffusion route. The simulation results also showed that the local gas concentration gradients were steeper in the cells than in the surrounding air spaces. Therefore, to analyze the cellular metabolism under hypoxic and anoxic conditions, the microscale model is required to calculate the correct intracellular concentrations. Understanding the O2 response of plants and plant organs thus not only requires knowledge of external conditions, dimensions, gas-exchange properties of the tissues, and cellular respiration kinetics but also of microstructure.
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology, BIOSYST-MeBioS, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Quang Tri
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verboven
authors.forename: Bert E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Verlinden
authors.forename: Els
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herremans
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wevers
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carmeliet
authors.forename: Bart M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Nicolaï
mesh_terms: D001692:Biological Transport; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004058:Diffusion; D005638:Fruit / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005740:Gases / Q000378:metabolism*; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D027845:Malus / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D008954:Models, Biological; D009928:Organ Specificity; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D005740:Gases; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D010100:Oxygen