Carbohydrate partitioning in crassulacean acid metabolism plants: reconciling potential conflicts of interest

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne M. Borland ◽  
Antony N. Dodd
Keyword(s):  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Critical Mass ◽  
Soluble Sugars ◽  
Carbon Budgets ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
Carbohydrate Partitioning ◽  
Isotopic Signatures ◽  
High Level

This paper originates from a presentation at the IIIrd International Congress on Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia, August 2001. The construction of diel leaf carbon budgets, together with analyses of the δ13C composition of biochemical fractions, was used to examine how crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants adjust carbohydrate partitioning in response to shifting sink demands. For Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L., net carbon budgets indicated clear shifts in assimilate partitioning and in the relative proportions of day : night export as CAM was induced. Different patterns of carbohydrate partitioning in primary and axillary leaves of this species may reflect the different sink priorities of determinate and indeterminate growth. In primary leaves, the high level of diel starch turnover may be a strategy for ensuring production of a critical mass of juvenile tissue that poises the plant for CAM induction. In axillary leaves, the high day-night flux through soluble sugars may ensure ready availability of assimilates for export to reproductive sinks. Carbon isotope ratios were measured for various organic fractions isolated from leaves and fruits of two species of Clusia that differ in CAM expression. Similar and C3-like isotopic signatures were obtained for the structural material isolated from fruits of Clusia minor L. and Clusia rosea Jacq. The data suggest that the partitioning of C4- and C3-derived assimilates into discrete storage and transport pools of soluble sugars will ensure reproductive output, regardless of the level of CAM that is induced in these species.

Carbohydrate partitioning in the leaves of Bromeliaceae performing C3 photosynthesis or Crassulacean acid metabolism

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 371 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Christopher ◽  
Joseph A. M. Holtum
Keyword(s):  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Soluble Sugars ◽  
Carbohydrate Accumulation ◽  
Carbohydrate Partitioning ◽  
C3 Species ◽  
C3 Photosynthesis ◽  
Cam Species

Carbohydrate accumulation was measured in the leaves of 11 speciesrepresenting the three subfamilies of Bromeliaceae. In the Tillandsioideae the C3 species Vriesea carinata Wawra accumulated starch and sucrose while the Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM)species Tillandsia tricolor Schlechtendal & Chamissoaccumulated mainly starch. In the Pitcairnioideae the C3species Pitcairnia paniculata Ruiz & Pavon and two CAM species Dyckia sp. andFosterella schidosperma Barker accumulated sucrose butnot starch. Of six CAM species in the Bromelioideae, threeCryptanthus zonatus (Visiani) Beer,Neoregalia spectabilis Moore andPortea petropolitana Wawra accumulated starch but notsoluble sugars while three (Ananus comosus Linnaeus,Orthophytum vagans M.B. Foster andNidularium bilbergioides Schultes filius) accumulatedstarch as well as soluble sugars. Carbohydrate accumulation patterns weresimilar for species within each subfamily in that the Pitcairnioideae speciesdid not accumulate starch but accumulated sucrose while species from theTillandsioideae and Bromelioideae all accumulated starch (some alsoaccumulated soluble sugars). Carbohydrate accumulation patterns were notsimilar for C3 species versus CAM species from thedifferent subfamilies. These data suggest that variations in carbohydratebiochemistry resulting from different evolutionary histories have a greaterinfluence on carbohydrate accumulation patterns in CAM bromeliads than theconstraints of the CAM pathway itself.

Glycolysis in CAM Plants

1975 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 389 ◽  
Author(s):  
BG Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Malic Acid ◽  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Amylase Activity ◽  
Acid Synthesis ◽  
Glycolytic Enzyme ◽  
Kinetic Characteristics ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
Pep Carboxylase ◽  
High Level

Enzymes involved in the movement of carbon from glucan to malic acid in the crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plant, Kalanchoe daigremontiana were assayed. The kinetic characteristics determined for the enzymes from this plant were similar to those already known for the same enzymes from non-CAM tissue. °-Amylase activity could not be demonstrated in the CAM leaf and glucokinase activity was low. These results, together with a high level of phosphorylase, suggested that the latter enzyme was involved in trasfer of glucan breakdown products to glycolysis. The activity of pyruvate kinase was only 1.7% of the activity of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase, suggesting that pyruvate production from PEP at night posed little drain on PEP supply for malic acid synthesis. Starch losses and glycolytic enzyme activities of non-CAM plants were sufficient to allow dark acidification comparable to that of CAM plants.

Sucrose transport across the vacuolar membrane of Ananas comosus

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 717 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley R. McRae ◽  
John T. Christopher ◽  
J. Andrew C. Smith ◽  
Joseph A. M. Holtum
Keyword(s):  
Atpase Activity ◽  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
External Medium ◽  
Soluble Sugars ◽  
Sugar Transport ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Ananas Comosus ◽  
Sucrose Uptake ◽  
Sucrose Transport

This paper originates from a presentation at the IIIrd International Congress on Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia, August 2001. In Ananas comosus L. (Merr.) (pineapple), a widely cultivated bromeliad that exhibits crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), much of the carbohydrate synthesized during the daytime appears to accumulate as soluble sugars in the vacuole. To investigate the mechanism of sugar transport into the vacuole, microsomal extracts were prepared from deacidifying leaves harvested during Phase III of the CAM cycle. The vesicle preparations exhibited features expected for a fraction highly enriched in vacuolar membranes (tonoplast), i.e. the ATPase activity of 16 ±�2�nkat mg-1 protein was inhibited 96% by 50 mm KNO3, an inhibitor of vacuolar ATPases, and was only 7% inhibited by 100μm NaN3 plus 100μm Na3VO4, inhibitors of mitochondrial and plasma membrane ATPases, respectively. Further, the microsomal ATPase activity showed a pH optimum between 7.0 and 8.0, typical of a vacuolar ATPase. When presented with Mg-ATP, vesicles established H+ gradients that could be maintained for at least 25 min. The vesicles were able to take up [14C]sucrose from an external medium. Sucrose uptake exhibited saturable kinetics with an apparent Km of 50 m sucrose and apparent Vmax of 171 ± 5 pkat mg-1 protein. Sucrose uptake was not dependent upon, nor stimulated by, Mg-ATP, suggesting that the mechanism of sucrose transport into the vacuole in A. comosus does not involve H+-coupled cotransport. However, the initial rates of sucrose uptake from the external medium were stimulated when vesicles were preloaded with sucrose. This trans-stimulation is consistent with characteristics expected for a sucrose uniporter capable of operating in an exchange mode. It is proposed that the accumulation of glucose and fructose in leaf vacuoles of Ananas during the light period involves at least two steps - transport of sucrose into the vacuole by a mechanism exhibiting characteristics of a sucrose uniporter, followed by cleavage of sucrose by a vacuolar acid invertase to form glucose and fructose.

How to tell the time: the regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase in Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants

2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 728-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.G. Nimmo
Keyword(s):  
Circadian Rhythms ◽  
Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase ◽  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Circadian Oscillator ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
Reversible Phosphorylation ◽  
Circadian Expression ◽  
Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase Kinase ◽  
Co2 Metabolism

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants exhibit persistent circadian rhythms of CO2 metabolism. These rhythms are driven by changes in the flux through phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, which is regulated by reversible phosphorylation in response to a circadian oscillator. This article reviews progress in our understanding of the circadian expression of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase.

scholarly journals Light-responsive expression atlas reveals the effects of light quality and intensity in Kalanchoë fedtschenkoi, a plant with crassulacean acid metabolism

GigaScience ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Zhang ◽  
Rongbin Hu ◽  
Avinash Sreedasyam ◽  
Travis M Garcia ◽  
Anna Lipzen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Light Intensity ◽  
White Light ◽  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Light Quality ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Acid Accumulation ◽  
Expression Atlas

Abstract Background Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), a specialized mode of photosynthesis, enables plant adaptation to water-limited environments and improves photosynthetic efficiency via an inorganic carbon-concentrating mechanism. Kalanchoë fedtschenkoi is an obligate CAM model featuring a relatively small genome and easy stable transformation. However, the molecular responses to light quality and intensity in CAM plants remain understudied. Results Here we present a genome-wide expression atlas of K. fedtschenkoi plants grown under 12 h/12 h photoperiod with different light quality (blue, red, far-red, white light) and intensity (0, 150, 440, and 1,000 μmol m–2 s–1) based on RNA sequencing performed for mature leaf samples collected at dawn (2 h before the light period) and dusk (2 h before the dark period). An eFP web browser was created for easy access of the gene expression data. Based on the expression atlas, we constructed a light-responsive co-expression network to reveal the potential regulatory relationships in K. fedtschenkoi. Measurements of leaf titratable acidity, soluble sugar, and starch turnover provided metabolic indicators of the magnitude of CAM under the different light treatments and were used to provide biological context for the expression dataset. Furthermore, CAM-related subnetworks were highlighted to showcase genes relevant to CAM pathway, circadian clock, and stomatal movement. In comparison with white light, monochrome blue/red/far-red light treatments repressed the expression of several CAM-related genes at dusk, along with a major reduction in acid accumulation. Increasing light intensity from an intermediate level (440 μmol m−2 s−1) of white light to a high light treatment (1,000 μmol m–2 s–1) increased expression of several genes involved in dark CO2 fixation and malate transport at dawn, along with an increase in organic acid accumulation. Conclusions This study provides a useful genomics resource for investigating the molecular mechanism underlying the light regulation of physiology and metabolism in CAM plants. Our results support the hypothesis that both light intensity and light quality can modulate the CAM pathway through regulation of CAM-related genes in K. fedtschenkoi.

scholarly journals CO2 starvation experiments provide support for the carbon-limited hypothesis on the evolution of CAM-like behaviour in Isoëtes

2020 ◽  
Vol 127 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-141
Author(s):  
Jacob S Suissa ◽  
Walton A Green
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Selective Pressure ◽  
Atmospheric Co2 ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
Acid Accumulation ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Nocturnal Acid Accumulation

Abstract Background and Aims Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is an adaptation to increase water use efficiency in dry environments. Similar biochemical patterns occur in the aquatic lycophyte genus Isoëtes. It has long been assumed and accepted that CAM-like behaviour in these aquatic plants is an adaptation to low daytime carbon levels in aquatic ecosystems, but this has never been directly tested. Methods To test this hypothesis, populations of Isoëtes engelmannii and I. tuckermanii were grown in climate-controlled chambers and starved of atmospheric CO2 during the day while pH was measured for 24 h. Key Results We demonstrate that terrestrial plants exposed to low atmospheric CO2 display diel acidity cycles similar to those in both xerophytic CAM plants and submerged Isoëtes. Conclusions Daytime CO2 starvation induces CAM-like nocturnal acid accumulation in terrestrial Isoëtes, substantiating the hypothesis that carbon starvation is a selective pressure for this physiological behaviour.

Cell organelles from crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants

Planta ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 147 (5) ◽  
pp. 477-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Schnarrenberger ◽  
D. Gro� ◽  
Ch. Burkhard ◽  
M. Herbert
Keyword(s):  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
Cell Organelles

Purification and Properties of Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase From Plants With Crassulacean Acid Metabolism

1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 409 ◽  
Author(s):  
DL Nott ◽  
CB Osmond
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate ◽  
Functional Significance ◽  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Sodium Dodecyl ◽  
Kinetic Properties ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
Pep Carboxylase ◽  
Purification And Properties ◽  
Ph Dependent

Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) carboxylase was purified from three species of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants. There was no evidence for isoenzymes of PEP carboxylase in these plants and the purified protein was an active dimer of Mr 220 000-250 000 which dissociated to a monomer of Mr 110 000 after treatment with sodium dodecyl sulfate. Active, higher aggregates could be obtained on Sepharose 6B but the functional significance, if any, of these remains to be assessed. In the absence of effectors, normal Michaelis-Menten kinetics were obtamed with the substrates HCO3- and PEP. The purified enzyme shows a preference for HCO3-, rather than CO2, at pH 6.1 and 8.1, with a Km (HCO3-) of 10-20 �M. The Vmax was relatively independent of pH between pH 5.5 and 8.5, but the Km (PEP) (like most other kinetic properties) was pH dependent with a minimum of about 0.1 mM PEP at pH 6.8. Malate inhibition was more effective at pH 6.2 than at pH 8.2, and the inhibition evidently involved a slow binding of malate which increased the Km (PEP) and resulted in non-hyperbolic kinetics. The Km (PEP) was lowered about 5-10-fold by 1.0 mM glucose 6-phosphate which also overcame malate inhibition and restored hyperbolic kinetic relationships in the presence of malate. Possible roles for these properties in the regulation of CAM are discussed.

Resistance is useful: diurnal patterns of photosynthesis in C3 and crassulacean acid metabolism epiphytic bromeliads

2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 679 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Maxwell
Keyword(s):  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Photosynthetic Electron Transport ◽  
Co2 Assimilation ◽  
Enzyme Activation ◽  
Photon Flux ◽  
Photon Flux Density ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
Diurnal Patterns ◽  
Rubisco Activation

This paper originates from a presentation at the IIIrd International Congress on Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia, August 2001 Diurnal patterns of photosynthesis in response to environmental variables were investigated in an obligate C3 and a facultative C3-crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) bromeliad species. A midday depression of photosynthesis occurred in both C3 groups, mediated as a decrease in stomatal conductance in response to increased vapour pressure difference. The response was associated with a reduction in Rubisco activation state during the period of maximum photon flux density. In contrast, the switch to CAM resulted in a strong shift in the pattern of Rubisco carbamylation, with full enzyme activation delayed until the midday period. For the first time it is demonstrated that the pattern of Rubisco activation differs between C3 and CAM plants of the same species under identical conditions. Despite large differences in Rubisco content between C3 and CAM plants, neither the amount of Rubisco or enzyme activity is thought to be limiting for photosynthesis, and it is suggested that Rubisco may function as a nitrogen store. Extreme CO2 diffusion limitation resulted in low rates of atmospheric CO2 assimilation that were associated with high rates of photosynthetic electron transport, and it is likely that photorespiration constitutes a significant electron sink over the entire diurnal course. Leaf morphological and physiological adaptations to drought stress are necessary for the epiphytic lifestyle but limit CO2 assimilation and confound the likelihood of high productivity.

scholarly journals Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase from pennywort (Umbilicus rupestris). Changes in properties after exposure to water stress

1984 ◽  
Vol 218 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
P P Daniel ◽  
J A Bryant ◽  
F I Woodward
Keyword(s):  
Water Stress ◽  
Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase ◽  
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism ◽  
Acid Metabolism ◽  
Marked Decrease ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
Allosteric Inhibitor ◽  
Allosteric Effector ◽  
Incomplete Form ◽  
C3 Photosynthesis

Umbilicus rupestris (pennywort) switches from C3 photosynthesis to an incomplete form of crassulacean acid metabolism (referred to as ‘CAM-idling’) when exposed to water stress (drought). This switch is accompanied by an increase in the activity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. This enzyme also shows several changes in properties, including a marked decrease in sensitivity to acid pH, a lower Km for phosphoenolpyruvate, very much decreased sensitivity to the allosteric inhibitor malate, and increased responsiveness to the allosteric effector glucose 6-phosphate. The Mr of the enzyme remains unchanged, at approx. 185 000. These changes in properties of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase are discussed in relation to the roles of the enzyme in C3 and in CAM plants.

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