Modeling of Water Transport through Plasmodesmata in Plant Cell

The water transport property in the plasmodesmata in a plant cell is calculated from the multiscale flow equation by incorporating both the adsorbed boundary layer flow and the intermediate continuum water flow. The plasmodesmata has the desmotubule which is the cylindrical nanotube with the diameter ranging between 20 nm and 40 nm and the length from 12000 nm to 26000 nm. In the absence of the wall slippage, there is the large flow resistance in this nanochannel preventing the water from flowing through; for the easy transport of water through this nanochannel, the wall slippage must occur and it results in the water flow rate through the channel several orders higher than the classical continuum flow theory calculation, depending on the power loss on the transportation. The pressure drop and the critical power loss on a single desmotubule for initiating the wall slippage are calculated as functions of the diameter and the length of the desmotubule.

Automated summary

This study calculates the water transport property in the plasmodesmata of a plant cell and finds that wall slippage plays a crucial role in water transportation. By incorporating both the adsorbed boundary layer flow and the intermediate continuum water flow equations, it is discovered that wall slippage in the plasmodesmata dramatically increases the water flow rate.