title: Spatial development of transport structures in apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) fruit.
abstract: The void network and vascular system are important pathways for the transport of gases, water and solutes in apple fruit (Malus × domestica Borkh). Here we used X-ray micro-tomography at various spatial resolutions to investigate the growth of these transport structures in 3D during fruit development of "Jonagold" apple. The size of the void space and porosity in the cortex tissue increased considerably. In the core tissue, the porosity was consistently lower, and seemed to decrease toward the end of the maturation period. The voids in the core were more narrow and fragmented than the voids in the cortex. Both the void network in the core and in the cortex changed significantly in terms of void morphology. An automated segmentation protocol underestimated the total vasculature length by 9-12% in comparison to manually processed images. Vascular networks increased in length from a total of 5 m at 9 weeks after full bloom, to more than 20 m corresponding to 5 cm of vascular tissue per cubic centimeter of apple tissue. A high degree of branching in both the void network and vascular system and a complex three-dimensional pattern was observed across the whole fruit. The 3D visualizations of the transport structures may be useful for numerical modeling of organ growth and transport processes in fruit.
authors.affiliation: Division of MeBioS, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, University of Leuven Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Els
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herremans
authors.affiliation: Division of MeBioS, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, University of Leuven Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Verboven
authors.affiliation: Division of MeBioS, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, University of Leuven Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Maarten L A T M
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Hertog
authors.affiliation: Division of MeBioS, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, University of Leuven Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cantre
authors.affiliation: Division of MeBioS, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, University of Leuven Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mattias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Dael
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, UGCT-Radiation Physics, Ghent University Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: De Schryver
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Astronomy, UGCT-Radiation Physics, Ghent University Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Van Hoorebeke
authors.affiliation: Division of MeBioS, Department of Biosystems, KU Leuven, University of Leuven Leuven, Belgium ; Flanders Centre of Postharvest Technology Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bart M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Nicolaï
keywords: gas and water transport; growth model; microtomography; programmed cell death; vascular system