Modeling Carbon Metabolism for Leaves Growth Based On the Characterized Photon Uptake Scenario of Cassava

Cassava is one of the top-ranked food crops for mankind in 21^st century. In contrast to the growing demand of its starchy roots, crop yield development has improved gradually during the past decades, and has still being a global research challenge nowadays. A constraint-based model (CBM) of cassava leaves metabolism, namely leaf_CBM_WS02, was constructed herein as a step towards an understanding of carbon conversion inside plant that derived the phenotypic yield of the crop. To the extent of providing more realistic metabolic simulation in cassava leaves according to the full photon budget, we presented the improved model based on light-use efficiency (LUE-based leaf_CBM_WS02) and photon traveling (PT-based leaf_CBM_WS02) concepts. The model well simulated leaves growth of the KU50 (Kasetsart50) plant with better representing photon uptake rate of cassava plant characterized by light response curve. The LUE-based simulation provided putative carbon metabolism at low range of possible photon uptaking, while PT-based modeling predicted the metabolism at high range of possible photon uptaking under the typical photosynthetic condition of cassava. Metabolic fluxes of both models were similar, but some different in magnitude, especially at the energy-related pathways. This improved metabolic model of cassava leaves will later contribute to the modeling of more complex scenario of carbon conversion towards yeield development in cassava.