
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Murphy, Ricardo 
T1  - Steady-state water relations of soybean seedling roots
JF  - Functional Plant Biology
JO  - Functional Plant Biol.
Y1  - 2003
VL  - 30
IS  - 4
SP  - 377
EP  - 389
KW  - Glycine max, isopiestic psychrometer, mathematical modeling, reflection coefficients, root water relations, water potential.
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1071/FP02196 
N2  - A previous four-compartment steady-state model of the root is extended to include the following: gradients of pressure (P) and osmotic pressure (&#928;) in the rooting medium, cortical apoplast and xylem; unloading of solutes to the xylem from internal stores; and apoplastic water flow across the endodermis. The model is tested by determining the steady-state relationship between applied pressure (Po) and volume flow rate (Qv) for excised roots of 4-day-old soybean seedlings under various conditions (vermiculite- versus water-cultured plants, different salt concentrations, permeant versus impermeant solutes). It is concluded that apoplastic volume flow across the endodermis is negligible. It is also argued that external or apoplastic gradients of P and &#928; tend to reduce the magnitude of the anomalous offset often observed in Po&#8211;Qv curves. The trans-root difference in water potential (&#916;&#936;) is shown to be a linear function of Qv at low Qv , but both &#916;&#936;(Qv) and Po(Qv) become nonlinear at high Qv . This unusual behavior may result from a nonlinear dependence of apoplastic pressure gradients and / or symplastic solute-concentration gradients on Qv . Alternatively, it might reflect saturation of water transport in plasmodesmata or aquaporins. The &#916;&#936; associated with growth-induced water uptake is shown to be negligible compared with the growth-induced water potentials measured in the stem elongation zone. 
ER  -

