This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (31) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Goeschl, J. D. Articles by Sharpe, P. J. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Goeschl, J. D. Articles by Sharpe, P. J. H. Agricola Articles by Goeschl, J. D. Articles by Sharpe, P. J. H.

Articles

Concentration-dependent Unloading as a Necessary Assumption for a Closed Form Mathematical Model of Osmotically Driven Pressure Flow in Phloem ¹

^a Biosystems Research Division, Department of Industrial Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843

Previous attempts to model steady state Münch pressure flow in phloem (Christy and Ferrier. [1973]. Plant Physiol. 52: 531-538; and Ferrier et al. [1974]. Plant Physiol. 54: 589-600) lack sufficient equations, and results were produced which do not represent correct mathematical solutions. Additional equations for the present closed form model were derived by assuming that unloading of a given solute is dependent upon the concentration of that solute in the sieve tube elements. Examples of linear and enzymic type unloading mechanisms are given, although other concentration-dependent mechanisms could be substituted. A method for a numerical solution is outlined, and proof of convergence is presented along with some representative data and the speed of computer calculations. The model provides the minimal set of equations for describing the Münch pressure flow hypothesis as it might operate in plants.

¹ This project was supported primarily by Grant NSF-BMS 7504108 from the National Science Foundation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. A. Cernusak, D. J. Arthur, J. S. Pate, and G. D. Farquhar Water Relations Link Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Discrimination to Phloem Sap Sugar Concentration in Eucalyptus globulus Plant Physiology, April 1, 2003; 131(4): 1544 - 1554. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S.M. Henton, A.J. Greaves, G.J. Piller, and P.E.H. Minchin Revisiting the Munch pressure-flow hypothesis for long-distance transport of carbohydrates: modelling the dynamics of solute transport inside a semipermeable tube J. Exp. Bot., June 1, 2002; 53(373): 1411 - 1419. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]