Journal
NEW PHYTOLOGIST
Volume 193, Issue 2, Pages 420-431Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03934.x
Keywords
aerenchyma; Melilotus siculus; micro-CT; multiscale model; oxygen; phellem; waterlogging
Categories
Funding
- Research Council of K.U. Leuven [OT 08/023]
- Flanders Fund for Scientific Research [G.0603.08]
- Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT) [SB/0991469]
- Danish Science Council
- A. W. Howard Memorial Trust
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Internal root aeration enables waterlogging-tolerant species to grow in anoxic soil. Secondary aerenchyma, in the form of aerenchymatous phellem, is of importance to root aeration in some dicotyledonous species. Little is known about this type of aerenchyma in comparison with primary aerenchyma. Micro-computed tomography was employed to visualize, in three dimensions, the microstructure of the aerenchymatous phellem in roots of Melilotus siculus. Tissue porosity and respiration were also measured for phellem and stelar tissues. A multiscale, three-dimensional, diffusionrespiration model compared the predicted O2 profiles in roots with those measured using O2 microelectrodes. Micro-computed tomography confirmed the measured high porosity of aerenchymatous phellem (4454%) and the low porosity of stele (25%) A network of connected gas spaces existed in the phellem, but not within the stele. O2 partial pressures were high in the phellem, but fell below the detection limit in the thicker upper part of the stele, consistent with the poorly connected low porosity and high respiratory demand. The presented model integrates and validates micro-computed tomography with measured radial O2 profiles for roots with aerenchymatous phellem, confirming the existence of near-anoxic conditions at the centre of the stele in the basal parts of the root, coupled with only hypoxic conditions towards the apex.
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