Mathematical Description of Water and Solution Flows in Segments of Maize Roots and in Branches of White Birch

Abstract

The need of the study of the transport of water molecules and of solutions in the biological system and shortcomings in the contemporary modelling of bioflows led us to the construction of a new mathematical model which would more precisely characterize the bioflows controlled by natural sources (for example the gradient of hydrostatic and osmotic pressure, of electric potential and of temperature) without limiting thermodynamic conditions. The model issues from the reality of the biosystem as a black box. It uses those input quantities which are attainable. It has been verified with white birch branches, the primary root and the roots of the first node of 24-day-old maize plants under conditions of the action of external force in the form of temperature gradient. The results obtained during the study of conductances, ultrafiltration and reflection properties of the above tissues suggest that these properties are dependent on the stage of tissue development. The osmotic flow is higher in white birch branches than the volume flow which is on the contrary higher in maize roots. The heat flow is higher in maize roots than in white birch branches and its course is synchronized with the volume flow. White birch branch tissues also show a higher reflection ability under these conditions than maize roots. The reflection abilities of all the above tissues decrease with increasing temperature gradient. Lower values of this gradient correspond to higher reflection abilities.