A minimal mechanistic model of plant responses to oxygen deficit during waterlogging

Plants exhibit diverse morphological, anatomical and physiological responses to hypoxia stress from soil waterlogging, yet coordination between these responses is not fully understood. Here, we present a mechanistic model to simulate how rooting depth, root aerenchyma -porous tissue arising from loc...

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Main Authors: Silou Chen, Hugo J. de Boer, Kirsten ten Tusscher
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2025-01-01
Series:Quantitative Plant Biology
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Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2632882825100167/type/journal_article
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author Silou Chen
Hugo J. de Boer
Kirsten ten Tusscher
author_facet Silou Chen
Hugo J. de Boer
Kirsten ten Tusscher
author_sort Silou Chen
collection DOAJ
description Plants exhibit diverse morphological, anatomical and physiological responses to hypoxia stress from soil waterlogging, yet coordination between these responses is not fully understood. Here, we present a mechanistic model to simulate how rooting depth, root aerenchyma -porous tissue arising from localized cell death-, and root barriers to radial oxygen loss (ROL) interact to influence waterlogging survival. Our model revealed an interaction between rooting depth and the relative effectiveness of aerenchyma and ROL barriers for prolonging waterlogging survival. As the formation of shallow roots increases waterlogging survival time, the positive effect of aerenchyma becomes more apparent with increased rooting depth. While ROL barriers further increased survival in combination with aerenchyma in deep-rooted plants, ROL barriers had little positive effect in the absence of aerenchyma. Furthermore, as ROL barriers limit root-to-soil oxygen diffusion bidirectionally, our model revealed optimality in the timing of ROL formation. These findings highlight the importance of coordination between morphological and anatomical responses in waterlogging resilience of plants.
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spelling doaj-art-3b5f60daa5c341e89d33f1be040aab6e2025-08-20T03:12:32ZengCambridge University PressQuantitative Plant Biology2632-88282025-01-01610.1017/qpb.2025.10016A minimal mechanistic model of plant responses to oxygen deficit during waterloggingSilou Chen0Hugo J. de Boer1Kirsten ten Tusscher2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1945-7858Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Science, Department of Geosciences, https://ror.org/04pp8hn57 Utrecht University , Utrecht, The Netherlands Theoretical Biology, Department of Biology, https://ror.org/04pp8hn57 Utrecht University , Utrecht, The NetherlandsCopernicus Institute of Sustainable Science, Department of Geosciences, https://ror.org/04pp8hn57 Utrecht University , Utrecht, The NetherlandsTheoretical Biology, Department of Biology, https://ror.org/04pp8hn57 Utrecht University , Utrecht, The Netherlands Experimental and Computational Plant Development, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The NetherlandsPlants exhibit diverse morphological, anatomical and physiological responses to hypoxia stress from soil waterlogging, yet coordination between these responses is not fully understood. Here, we present a mechanistic model to simulate how rooting depth, root aerenchyma -porous tissue arising from localized cell death-, and root barriers to radial oxygen loss (ROL) interact to influence waterlogging survival. Our model revealed an interaction between rooting depth and the relative effectiveness of aerenchyma and ROL barriers for prolonging waterlogging survival. As the formation of shallow roots increases waterlogging survival time, the positive effect of aerenchyma becomes more apparent with increased rooting depth. While ROL barriers further increased survival in combination with aerenchyma in deep-rooted plants, ROL barriers had little positive effect in the absence of aerenchyma. Furthermore, as ROL barriers limit root-to-soil oxygen diffusion bidirectionally, our model revealed optimality in the timing of ROL formation. These findings highlight the importance of coordination between morphological and anatomical responses in waterlogging resilience of plants.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2632882825100167/type/journal_articleaerenchymafloodingmechanistic modellingradial oxygen loss barrierrooting depth
spellingShingle Silou Chen
Hugo J. de Boer
Kirsten ten Tusscher
A minimal mechanistic model of plant responses to oxygen deficit during waterlogging
Quantitative Plant Biology
aerenchyma
flooding
mechanistic modelling
radial oxygen loss barrier
rooting depth
title A minimal mechanistic model of plant responses to oxygen deficit during waterlogging
title_full A minimal mechanistic model of plant responses to oxygen deficit during waterlogging
title_fullStr A minimal mechanistic model of plant responses to oxygen deficit during waterlogging
title_full_unstemmed A minimal mechanistic model of plant responses to oxygen deficit during waterlogging
title_short A minimal mechanistic model of plant responses to oxygen deficit during waterlogging
title_sort minimal mechanistic model of plant responses to oxygen deficit during waterlogging
topic aerenchyma
flooding
mechanistic modelling
radial oxygen loss barrier
rooting depth
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2632882825100167/type/journal_article
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AT kirstententusscher aminimalmechanisticmodelofplantresponsestooxygendeficitduringwaterlogging
AT silouchen minimalmechanisticmodelofplantresponsestooxygendeficitduringwaterlogging
AT hugojdeboer minimalmechanisticmodelofplantresponsestooxygendeficitduringwaterlogging
AT kirstententusscher minimalmechanisticmodelofplantresponsestooxygendeficitduringwaterlogging