Optimality and universal scaling for osmotically driven translocation of sugars in plants

ORAL

Abstract

The growth of plants depends on efficient translocation of sugars. The current belief is that this takes place predominantly through osmotically driven flow, passively generated by differences in sugar concentrations (the so-called M\"{u}nch mechanism). We show that optimization of translocation speed predicts a universal scaling between the width of the conduits (phloem cells), the length of the plant and the length of the ``loading zones'' (the leaves). This unexpected scaling is verified by data from plants over several orders of magnitude is size, from small green plants to large trees.

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Authors

  • Tomas Bohr

    • Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark
    • Department of Physics and Center for Fluid Dynamics, Technical University of Denmark

  • Kaare Hartvig Jensen

    • Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology, Technical University of Denmark

  • Henrik Bruus

    • Department of Micro- and Nanotechnology, Technical University of Denmark
    • Dept. Micro- and Nanotechnology, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark

  • Jinkee Lee

    • Brown University
    • Division of Engineering, Brown University

  • Maciej Zwieniecki

    • Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University

  • Noel Michele Holbrook

    • Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University