A process-based model of C and N metabolism in the wheat culm

Linking traits and metabolic processes to whole plant performance results in improved crops. Barillot et al., present CN-Wheat, a comprehensive and mechanistic model of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) metabolism within wheat culms after anthesis.

Culm organs are described explicitly and include structural, storage and mobile metabolites. An innovative aspect of CN-Wheat lies in the regulation of physiological processes by metabolite concentration and the environment perceived by the organs, together with the calculation of the balance of primary metabolites. Thus, metabolite concentrations act as the internal variables that allow for integration of multiple processes.