title: Three-dimensional microscale modelling of CO2 transport and light propagation in tomato leaves enlightens photosynthesis.
abstract: We present a combined three-dimensional (3-D) model of light propagation, CO2 diffusion and photosynthesis in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) leaves. The model incorporates a geometrical representation of the actual leaf microstructure that we obtained with synchrotron radiation X-ray laminography, and was evaluated using measurements of gas exchange and leaf optical properties. The combination of the 3-D microstructure of leaf tissue and chloroplast movement induced by changes in light intensity affects the simulated CO2 transport within the leaf. The model predicts extensive reassimilation of CO2 produced by respiration and photorespiration. Simulations also suggest that carbonic anhydrase could enhance photosynthesis at low CO2 levels but had little impact on photosynthesis at high CO2 levels. The model confirms that scaling of photosynthetic capacity with absorbed light would improve efficiency of CO2 fixation in the leaf, especially at low light intensity.
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology/BIOSYST-MeBioS, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Quang Tri
authors.initials: QT
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology/BIOSYST-MeBioS, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.|Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|BioSolar Cells, P.O. Box 98, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Herman N C
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Berghuijs
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology/BIOSYST-MeBioS, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Watté
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology/BIOSYST-MeBioS, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verboven
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology/BIOSYST-MeBioS, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Els
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herremans
authors.affiliation: Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|BioSolar Cells, P.O. Box 98, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Xinyou
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology/BIOSYST-MeBioS, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.|Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Moges A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Retta
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology/BIOSYST-MeBioS, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aernouts
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology/BIOSYST-MeBioS, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Saeys
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Application of Synchrotron Radiation/ANKA, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, P.O. Box 3640, D-76021, Karlsruhe, Germany.|ESRF - The European Synchrotron, CS40220, F-38043, Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Helfen
authors.affiliation: Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
authors.forename: Graham D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Farquhar
authors.affiliation: Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 430, 6700 AK, Wageningen, The Netherlands.|BioSolar Cells, P.O. Box 98, 6700 AB, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Struik
authors.affiliation: Flanders Center of Postharvest Technology/BIOSYST-MeBioS, KU Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42, B-3001, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bart M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Nicolaï
mesh_terms: D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000378:metabolism*; D019069:Cell Respiration / Q000528:radiation effects; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004058:Diffusion; D005453:Fluorescence; D008027:Light; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects; D008954:Models, Biological; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000528:radiation effects; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D018526:Plant Transpiration / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D002734:Chlorophyll; D002245:Carbon Dioxide
keywords: 3-D model photon transport; X-ray computed laminography; gas diffusion; photosynthetic capacity; synchrotron radiation; tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.)