Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) represents one of the best-studied metabolic examples of an ecological adaptation to environmental stress. Well over 5 % of all vascular plant species engage in this water-conserving photosynthetic pathway. Intensified research activities over the last 10 years have led to major advances in understanding the biology of CAM plants.
New areas of research reviewed in detail in this book include regulation of gene expression and the molecular basis of CAM, the ecophysiology of CAM plants from tropical environments, the productivity of agronomically important cacti and agaves, the ecophysiology of CAM in submerged aquatic plants, and the taxonomic diversity and evolutionary origins of CAM.
Author(s): K. Winter, J. A. C. Smith (auth.), Dr. Klaus Winter, Dr. J. Andrew C. Smith (eds.)
Series: Ecological Studies 114
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Year: 1996
Language: English
Pages: 449
Tags: Plant Sciences; Geoecology/Natural Processes; Nature Conservation; Ecology; Agriculture; Forestry
Front Matter....Pages I-XXXII
An Introduction to Crassulacean Acid Metabolism. Biochemical Principles and Ecological Diversity....Pages 1-13
Front Matter....Pages 15-18
Stoichiometric Nightmares: Studies of Photosynthetic O 2 and CO 2 Exchanges in CAM Plants....Pages 19-30
Alternative Carbohydrate Reserves Used in the Daily Cycle of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism....Pages 31-45
Roles of Circadian Rhythms, Light and Temperature in the Regulation of Phospho enol pyruvate Carboxylase in Crassulacean Acid Metabolism....Pages 46-52
Transport Across the Vacuolar Membrane in CAM Plants....Pages 53-71
The Tonoplast as a Target of Temperature Effects in Crassulacean Acid Metabolism....Pages 72-77
Regulation of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism in Kalanchoë pinnata as Studied by Gas Exchange and Measurements of Chlorophyll Fluorescence....Pages 78-96
Energy Dissipation and the Xanthophyll Cycle in CAM Plants....Pages 97-114
Front Matter....Pages 115-118
Factors Affecting the Induction of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum ....Pages 119-134
Transcriptional Activation of CAM Genes During Development and Environmental Stress....Pages 135-158
Environmental Control of CAM Induction in Mesembryanthemum crystallinum - a Role for Cytokinin, Abscisic Acid and Jasmonate?....Pages 159-175
Regulation of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism by Water Status in the C 3 /CAM Intermediate Sedum telephium ....Pages 176-191
Putative Causes and Consequences of Recycling CO 2 via Crassulacean Acid Metabolism....Pages 192-203
Ontogenetic Development of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism as Modified by Water Stress in Peperomia ....Pages 204-215
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism in Leaves and Stems of Cissus quadrangularis ....Pages 216-229
Variations in the Phases of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism and Regulation of Carboxylation Patterns Determined by Carbon-Isotope-Discrimination Techniques....Pages 230-249
Front Matter....Pages 251-254
High Productivity of Certain Agronomic CAM Species....Pages 255-265
Features of Roots of CAM Plants....Pages 266-280
Aquatic CAM Photosynthesis....Pages 281-295
Clusia : Plasticity and Diversity in a Genus of C 3 /CAM Intermediate Tropical Trees....Pages 296-311
Front Matter....Pages 251-254
Seasonal Changes in Daytime Versus Nighttime CO 2 Fixation of Clusia uvitana In Situ....Pages 312-323
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism in the Genus Kalanchoë : Ecological, Physiological and Biochemical Aspects....Pages 324-335
Carbon- and Hydrogen-Isotope Discrimination in Crassulacean Acid Metabolism....Pages 336-348
Evolutionary Aspects of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism in the Crassulaceae....Pages 349-359
The Evolution of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism....Pages 360-385
Front Matter....Pages 387-387
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism: Current Status and Perspectives....Pages 389-426
Taxonomic Distribution of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism....Pages 427-436
Back Matter....Pages 437-449
