Despite being the largest crop in the world, wheat hydraulic functioning is still poorly understood. A new mechanistic model simulating water flow and storage in wheat revealed that the carbohydrate storage in the stem plays an important role for continuing water supply to the developing grain, especially during drought stress. Through modelling, it was discovered that turgor-driven radial flow, as it occurs in roots, is also important in wheat stems during carbohydrate mobilization. This turgor-driven radial flow in the stem needs to be confirmed by other methods. Moreover, it is not known yet whether this radial flow occurs via a symplasmic or apoplasmic route. In this research proposal, we plan to further study the pathways of radial water transport. To this end, diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) will be used as a novel tool to measure radial water diffusion in vivo in wheat stems to compare to model simulations of radial water flow. Complementary to the dMRI data, microscopic imaging techniques will provide structural information at a high resolution.