A mechanistic interpretation of root transport of water.

The present paper offers a mechanistic interpretation of filtration coefficients L(pr) in isolated maize roots, measured with the use of the root pressure probe by Steudle and others (Steudle 1990, 1992; Steudle and Brickmann 1989; Steudle and Frensch 1989; Steudle and Jeschke 1983; Steudle et al. 1993) on the basis of the Kedem-Katchalsky equations. Detailed investigations have been based on the mechanistic equations of solute and solvent membrane transport across porous membranes (Kargol 2001; Kargol and Kargol 2003a,b). It must be stressed that transport equations of both these (thermodynamic and mechanistic) formalisms are mutually compatible, which has been demonstrated for instance in the works Kargol and Kargol (2003) and Suchanek (2005, 2006).