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A photosynthetic process modelled by a metabolic P system

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Abstract

Photosynthesis is the process used by plants, algae and some bacteria to obtain biochemical energy from sunlight. It is the most important process allowing life on earth. In this work, by applying the Log Gain theory of Metabolic P Systems, we define a mathematical model of an important photosynthetic phenomenon, called Non Photochemical Quenching (shortly NPQ), that determines the plant accommodation to the environmental light. Starting from experimental data of this phenomenon, we are able to deduce a Metabolic P system which provides, in a specific simplified case, the regulation mechanism underling the NPQ process. The dynamics of our model, generated by suitable computational tools, reproduce, with a very good approximation, the observed behaviour of the natural system.

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Notes

  1. Arbitrary units are values of suitable observable magnitudes which are proportional to a given phenomenon. They are especially used for evaluating relative variations of variables.

  2. MetaPlab is a computational framework for MP systems. It is developed in Java by the research group on Natural Computing, led by Vincenzo Manca, at the Department of Computer Science of the University of Verona, Italy. The last release of MetaPlab is available at web site http://mplab.sci.univr.it.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Prof. Bassi’s group of Biotechnological Department, at University of Verona, for laboratory analysis and Dr. Petronia Carillo, Department of Life Sciences, Second University of Naples, for CO2 uptake measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computer Science Department, The University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 15, 37134, Verona, Italy

    Vincenzo Manca & Roberto Pagliarini

  2. Biotechnological Department, The University of Verona, Strada Le Grazie 15, 37134, Verona, Italy

    Simone Zorzan

Authors
  1. Vincenzo Manca
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  2. Roberto Pagliarini
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  3. Simone Zorzan
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Correspondence to Vincenzo Manca.

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Manca, V., Pagliarini, R. & Zorzan, S. A photosynthetic process modelled by a metabolic P system. Nat Comput 8, 847–864 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11047-008-9104-x

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