The first multi-tissue genome-scale metabolic model of a woody plant highlights suberin biosynthesis pathways in Quercus suber
Fig 3
Schematic representation based on pFBA and FVA predictions of the metabolic routes towards cork formation.
Photon and gas exchanges take place in the leaf, while the uptake of inorganic ions was assumed to happen in the inner bark. Sucrose and amino acids produced in the leaf are transported into the inner bark, and then to the phellogen, where they are used for the suberin and lignin biosynthesis (besides the other biomass components). The differences in the metabolism in the day and night phases are only represented for the leaf since, according to in silico simulations, the pathways used in the inner bark and phellogen were similar in the two phases of the diel cycle. Thick arrows represent transport reactions between tissues, while thinner arrows represent intracellular reactions.