Dynamics of Moisture Transport in Plant Cuticles: The Role of Cellulose

Food production needs to increase significantly in 30 years, and water loss from plants may hold one key, especially relevant in a time of climate change. The plant leaf cuticle is the final defence of leaves in drought and at night, and so by understanding water movement in the leaf with mathematical modelling techniques, we can move towards future proofing our crops and native plant ecology. We identify new mechanisms of water movement properties of plant cuticles and utilise this understanding to create a novel mathematical model. We model water sorption in astomatous isolated cuticles, utilising three separate pathways of cellulose, aqueous pores and lipophilic. The results of the model compare well to data both over time and increasing humidity. The sensitivity analysis shows that the grouping of parameters influencing plant species variations has the largest effect on sorption, the parameters influencing cellulose are very influential, and aqueous pores less so but still relevant. Cellulose is important to include in a water transport model for plant cuticles, as it plays a significant role in diffusion and adsorption in the cuticle and the cuticle surfaces.