This allows plants to grow without incurring the metabolic costs of anaerobic respiration. Moreover, the degradation of cortical cells during aerenchyma formation reduce the metabolic costs of plants during stresses such as drought.
This enables plants to grow without incurring the metabolic costs linked to anaerobic respiration. Similarly, the breakdown of cortical cells during aerenchyma formation minimizes the metabolic burden on plants under stress conditions such as drought.