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Bridging Scales from Protein Function to Whole-Plant Water Relations with the OnGuard Platform

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Mathematical Modelling in Plant Biology

Abstract

The characteristics of transport across plant membranes, like all eukaryotic membranes, is highly non-linear. The complexity inherent to such characteristics defies intuitive understanding and, in these circumstances, quantitative mathematical modelling is essential as a tool, both to integrate the detailed knowledge of individual transporters and to extract the properties emerging from their interactions. As the first, fully-integrated and quantitative modelling environment for the study of ion transport dynamics in a plant cell, the OnGuard platform offers a unique tool for examining such emergent properties associated with guard cell metabolism and ion transport at the plasma membrane and tonoplast. The OnGuard platform has already yielded details guiding phenotypic and mutational studies. These advances represent key steps towards ‘reverse-engineering’ of stomatal physiology to improve water use efficiency and carbon assimilation, based on rational design and testing in simulation. The newly expanded platform, OnGuard2, bridges the micro-macro gap in stomatal models, coupling whole-plant transpiration to the molecular functionalities of the guard cell. Here we set out guidelines for use of OnGuard2 and outline a standardized approach that will enable users to advance quickly in applying the platform in classroom and laboratory situations.

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Acknowledgements

MP, AH and MRB, and their associated publications, were supported by BBSRC grants BB/L001276/1, BB/L019025/1, BB/M001601/1, and BB/N01832X/1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biophysics, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Maria Papanatsiou, Adrian Hills & Michael R. Blatt

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  1. Maria Papanatsiou
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  2. Adrian Hills
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  3. Michael R. Blatt
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Correspondence to Michael R. Blatt .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Computational and Systems Biology, John Innes Centre, Norwich, Norfolk, UK

    Richard J. Morris

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Papanatsiou, M., Hills, A., Blatt, M.R. (2018). Bridging Scales from Protein Function to Whole-Plant Water Relations with the OnGuard Platform. In: Morris, R. (eds) Mathematical Modelling in Plant Biology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99070-5_5

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