Mathematical model of fructan biosynthesis and polymer length distribution in plants

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: There are many unresolved issues concerning the biochemistry of fructan biosynthesis. The aim of this paper is to address some of these by means of modelling mathematically the biochemical processes. METHODS: A model has been constructed for the step-by-step synthesis of fructan polymers. This is run until a steady state is achieved for which a polymer distribution is predicted. It is shown how qualitatively different distributions can be obtained. KEY RESULTS: It is demonstrated how a set of experimental results on polymer distribution can by simulated by a simple parameter adjustments. CONCLUSIONS: Mathematical modelling of fructan biosynthesis can provide a useful tool for helping elucidate the details of the biosynthetic processes.