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Phloem Sap Sampling from Brassica napus for 3D-PAGE of Protein and Ribonucleoprotein Complexes

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Phloem networks in leaves.

Mónica R Carvalho¹, Juan M Losada², Karl J Niklas³

¹Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panama.

Current Opinion in Plant Biology

|January 8, 2018

Summary

Vascular plants rely on phloem and xylem for survival. This study quantifies phloem hydraulics in leaves, revealing cell size scaling and transport pathway dynamics that support plant survival.

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Area of Science:

Plant Physiology
Plant Anatomy
Biophysics

Background:

Phloem and xylem form a hydraulically coupled system essential for vascular plant survival.
Xylem hydraulics are well-studied, but quantitative understanding of phloem hydraulics and its coupling with xylem, especially in leaves, is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

To summarize recent advances in quantifying phloem hydraulics in mature leaves.
To investigate the relationship between phloem and xylem conducting cell size.
To model photosynthate transport using Münch's pressure-flow hypothesis and evaluate existing hydraulic models.

Main Methods:

Analysis of vascular architectures in fully expanded mature leaves.
Quantitative assessment of phloem and xylem conducting cell dimensions.
Modeling of transport pathways based on cell size and length.

Main Results:

Phloem conducting cell size scales isometrically with xylem conducting cell size across diverse taxa.
Cellular transport areas and lengths along phloem pathways align with predictions of Münch's pressure-flow hypothesis.
Observations challenge the applicability of da Vinci's and Murray's hydraulic models for leaf lamina photosynthate transport.

Conclusions:

Phloem hydraulics in leaves exhibit predictable scaling relationships with xylem hydraulics.
Münch's pressure-flow hypothesis provides a viable framework for modeling phloem transport in leaves.
Established hydraulic models may not accurately represent photosynthate transport mechanisms in leaf laminae.