Published in Annals of botany
The algorithm presented can produce different tissues varying in topological and geometrical properties. This flexibility to produce different tissue types gives the model great potential for use in investigations of plant cell division and growth in silico.
Published in Annals of botany
Maximizing photosynthesis at the canopy level is important for enhancing crop yield, and this requires insights into the limiting factors of photosynthesis. Using greenhouse cucumber (Cucumis sativus) as an example, this study provides a novel approach to quantify different components of photosynthetic limitations at the leaf level and to upscale t...
Published in Annals of botany
The new method allows more meaningful sampling than conventional methods because of its easily opened, wide corer and sampling machinery, and effective analysis of RSA using the software. This provides a novel technique for quantifying RSA of field-grown maize and also provides a unique evaluation of the contribution of lateral roots. The method al...
Published in Annals of botany
During seed fill in cereals, nutrients are symplasmically unloaded to vascular parenchyma in ovules, but thereafter nutrient transport is less certain. In Zea mays, two mechanisms of nutrient passage through the chalaza and nucellus have been hypothesized, apoplasmic and symplasmic. In a recent study, nutrients first passed non-selectively to the c...
Published in Annals of botany
The impact of a fruit tree's architecture on its performance is still under debate, especially with regard to the definition of varietal ideotypes and the selection of architectural traits in breeding programmes. This study aimed at providing proof that a modelling approach can contribute to this debate, by using in silico exploration of different ...
Published in Annals of botany
A number of research groups in various areas of plant biology as well as computer science and applied mathematics have addressed modelling the spatiotemporal dynamics of growth and development of plants. This has resulted in development of functional-structural plant models (FSPMs). In FSPMs, the plant structure is always explicitly represented in ...
Published in Annals of botany
Seed dormancy enhances fitness by preventing seeds from germinating when the probability of seedling survival and recruitment is low. The onset of physical dormancy is sensitive to humidity during ripening; however, the implications of this mechanism for seed bank dynamics have not been quantified. This study proposes a model that describes how hum...
Published in Annals of botany
The model was able to support the general hypothesis that the patterns observed in the grasstree bark-like layer may be explained in terms of mechanical fractures driven by secondary growth. Although the generality of the results is limited by the unusual structure of grasstree bark, it supports the hypothesis that bark pattern formation is primari...
Published in Annals of botany
Specialized root morphology with deeper rather than shallower lateral branching enhances access to water resources in underlying rock. More generally, the approach provides insights into both evolutionary processes and ecological costs and benefits of different plant growth strategies.
Published in Annals of botany
Genetic markers can be used in combination with ecophysiological crop models to predict the performance of genotypes. Crop models can estimate the contribution of individual markers to crop performance in given environments. The objectives of this study were to explore the use of crop models to design markers and virtual ideotypes for improving yie...
