CAM Plant Physiology

Certain plants which have Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) are known as CAM plants. They have scotoactive stomata. It means their stomata remain open during the night. It is the characteristic feature of CAM plants. These plants fix carbon dioxide during the night but form sugars only during the day when RuBisCO is active. Sedum, Kalanchoe, Pineapple, Opuntia, Snake plant are the examples of CAM plants. These plants also perform double carbon dioxide fixation. The carbon dioxide acceptor in CAM plants is Phosphoenol pyruvic acid (PEP) during the night and Ribulose bisphosphate is carbon dioxide acceptor during the daytime. The first stable product in case of CAM plants is Oxalo acetic acid (OAA).

CAM plants are those plants whose stomata open at night so that they can fix carbon-dioxide in the form of organic acids because these plants are adapted to grow in arid conditions. They accumulate carbon dioxide at night in vacuoles whereas in day time malic acid in transported to chloroplasts where it is again converted into carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. 

Certain plants which have Crassulacean Acid metabolism (CAM) are known as CAM plants. They have scotoactive stomata. These plants fix carbon dioxide during the night but form sugars only during the day when RuBisCO is active. sedum, kalanchoe, pineapple, opuntia are the examples of CAM plants. These plants also perform double carbon dioxide fixation. The carbon dioxide acceptor in CAM plants is Phosphoenol pyruvic acid (PEP) during the night and Ribulose bisphosphate is carbon dioxide acceptor during day time. The first stable product in case of CAM plants is Oxalo acetic acid (OAA).

Certain plants which have Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) are known as CAM plants. They have scotoactive stomata. $CO _{2}$ required for photosynthesis enters the plant during the night when stomata are open. Then, this carbon dioxide is fixed during the night but form sugars only during the day when RuBisCO is active. Sedum, Kalanchoe, Pineapple, Opuntia are the examples of CAM plants. These plants also perform double carbon dioxide fixation. The carbon dioxide acceptor in CAM plants is Phosphoenol pyruvic acid (PEP) during the night and Ribulose bisphosphate is carbon dioxide acceptor during the daytime. The first stable product in case of CAM plants is Oxalo acetic acid (OAA).

Kranz anatomy is found in leaves of $C _{4}$ plants. The $C _{4}$ pathway requires the presence of two types of cells i.e. mesophyll cells and bundle sheath cells. The particularly large cells around the vascular bundles of $C _{4}$ plants are called bundle sheath cells, these cells may form several layers around the vascular bundles, they are characterized by having a large number of well-developed chloroplasts, grana are absent, thick walls impervious to gaseous exchange and no extracellular spaces. This special anatomy of leaves of the $C _{4}$ plants is called Kranz anatomy. 'Kranz' means wreath and is a reflection of the arrangement of cells.

Kranz anatomy is found in leaves of $C _{4}$ plants. The $C _{4}$ pathway requires the presence of two types of cells i.e., mesophyll cells and bundle sheath cells. The particularly large cells around the vascular bundles of $C _{4}$ plants are called bundle sheath cells, these cells may form several layers around the vascular bundles, they are characterized by having a large number of chloroplasts, grana are absent, thick walls impervious to gaseous exchange and no extracellular spaces. This special anatomy of leaves of the $C _{4}$ plants is called Kranz anatomy. 'Kranz' means wreath and is a reflection of the arrangement of cells.

Certain plants which have Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) are known as CAM plants. They have scotoactive stomata. It means their stomata remain open during the night. It is the characteristic feature of CAM plants. These plants fix carbon dioxide during the night but form sugars only during the day when RuBisCO is active. Sedum, Kalanchoe, Pineapple, Opuntia, Snake plant are the examples of CAM plants. These plants also perform double carbon dioxide fixation. The carbon dioxide acceptor in CAM plants is Phosphoenol pyruvic acid (PEP) during the night and Ribulose bisphosphate is carbon dioxide acceptor during the daytime. The first stable product in case of CAM plants is Oxalo acetic acid (OAA).

Certain plants which have Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) are known as CAM plants. They have scotoactive stomata, i.e. stomata remain open in night. These plants fix carbon dioxide during the night but form sugars only during the day when RuBisCO is active. Sedum, Kalanchoe, Pineapple, Opuntia are the examples of CAM plants. These plants also perform double carbon dioxide fixation. The carbon dioxide acceptor in CAM plants is Phosphoenol pyruvic acid (PEP) during the night and Ribulose bisphosphate is carbon dioxide acceptor during the daytime. The first stable product in case of CAM plants is Oxalo acetic acid (OAA).

Certain plants which have Crassulacean Acid metabolism (CAM) are known as CAM plants. They have scotoactive stomata. Their stomata remain open during night. It is characteristic feature of CAM plants. These plants fix carbon dioxide during night but form sugars only during day when RuBisCO is active. Sedum, Kalanchoe, Pineapple, Opuntia are the examples of CAM plants. These plants also perform double carbon dioxide fixation. The carbon dioxide acceptor in CAM plants is Phosphoenol pyruvic acid (PEP) during night and Ribulose bisphosphate is carbon dioxide acceptor during day time. The first stable product in case of CAM plants is Oxalo acetic acid (OAA).

CAM plants are usually the succulents (eg : cacti, agave) as they are efficient at storing water due to the climates they live in i.e., dry and arid. The leaves of succulent plants are thick, contains moisture and have a coat of wax to reduce evaporation. During the day, the plants close their stoma to prevent the loss of water and open it at night to absorb the carbon dioxide from the surrounding atmosphere. The carbon dioxide is later converted into malate, which is used in the process of photosynthesis (via the calvin cycle) when the daylight returns.

In CAM plants, photophosphorylation occurs in bundle sheath cell during night. Hence, stomata is open during night in order to fix the carbon dioxide. During night, a four carbon acid is produced when stomata are open. RuBisCo enzyme fixes carbon during the day time during the light reactions. Examples of plants that show CAM photosynthesis are cactus and pineapple.

CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) photosynthesis is found in most desert plants, particularly the succulents (plants that store water in thick, fleshy leaves). CAM plants keep their stomata closed during the day to conserve water. At night, the stomata open to allow CO$ _{2}$ to enter. CO$ _{2}$ is incorporated into organic acids which are then stored within the mesophyll cells. During the day, CO$ _{2}$ is released from the organic acids to supply the Calvin Cycle. Thus, CAM photosynthesis occurs in fleshy green leaves and not in thin green leaves with reticulated venation or Thin green leaves with parallel or thin colored leaves. Thus, option C is correct and other options are incorrect.

Phosphoenol pyruvate is formed from the decarboxylation of oxloacetate and hydrolysis of one guanosine triphosphate molecule. This reaction is catalyzed by the enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. This reaction is a rate limiting step in gluconeogenesis.

GTP + Oxaloacetate -----> GDP + Phosphoenolpyruvate + $CO _2$.

Certain plants especially succulents which grow under extremely xerophytic conditions, fix atmospheric carbon dioxide in the dark. Since the process was first observed in the plants belonging to family Crassulaceae such as Bryophyllum, Kalanchoe, Sedum etc., it was termed crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Such plants are known as CAM plants. The most characteristic feature of these plants is that their stomata remain open at night but closed during the day. Thus, CAM is a kind of adaptation in succulents to carry out photosynthesis without much loss of water. This helps in conserving water in these plants. 

CAM plants are mainly succulent xerophytes. Besides C3 and C4 cycles, Crassulacean acid metabolism is a third mechanism for fixing carbon dioxide. It is found not only in members of the family Crassulaceae eg., Kalanchoe, Sedum, Crassula, but also in the members of family Cactaceae example Opuntia. Besides it also occurs in some members of Liliaceae, Orchidaceae, Bromeliaceae, Euphorbia sp and pteridophytes like Isoetes. In CAM plants the stomata are open at night and during day time the stomata remain close.

CAM photosynthesis is a carbon fixation pathway present in some plants, such as desert plants. These plants fix carbon dioxide during night, storing it as the four carbon acid malate. The malate is then reduced to a three carbon compound oxaloacetate and the carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is released during the day, where it is concentrated around the enzyme RuBP carboxylase and increases the efficiency of photosynthesis. The carboxylating enzyme used during day is RuBP carboxylase and during the night its PEP carboxylase.

Answer is option C.

In CAM plants there is temporal separation between initial carbon dioxide fixation and Calvin cycle. In these plants, during night time the stomata are open and atmospheric carbon dioxide is fixed into organic acids like malic acid. The organic acids are stored in cell vacuoles during night time. During day time the stomata are closed and organic acids are decarboxylated to release carbon dioxide. The released carbon dioxide is fixed by the RuBisCO and usual reactions of the Calvin cycle.

• Kranz anatomy is a special structure of leaves in C4 PLANTS e.g. maize, sugarcane, sorghum, and millets.
  
• Mustard and Spinach belongs to C3 plants.
  
• Tulip is an example of a CAM plant. 

Crassulacean acid metabolism is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions. In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide. The $CO _2$ is stored as the four-carbon acid malate and then used during photosynthesis during the day. As photosynthesis occurs during night, the concentration of organic acid, which is the product of photosynthesis increases during night. Thus, option C is correct answer.

Ranson and Thomas coined the term CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism)  in 1940. CAM pathway is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions. In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide.

C- Plants using PEP carboxylase have a ring of specialised cells, called bundle sheath cells, around the vascular bundles (veins) in their leaves. PEP carboxylase forms part of a carbon dioxide pumping mechanism. Oxaloacetate can be converted to malate in the leaf mesophyll cells and transferred to the bundle sheath cells. Here 4 carbon malate is converted to 3 carbon pyruvate, yielding carbon dioxide and reducing NADP to NADPH for use in the C3 carbon fixing cycle.

In CAM plants, organic acid content increases during the night because the stomata remain open at the night and close during the daytime to conserve water. When stomata are open during the night, carbon dioxide is fixed by the action of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase to malic acid, this is called as acidification. During daytime, when the stomata are closed, malic acid is converted to pyruvic acid and carbon dioxide, this is called as deacidification. Hence acid concentration increases at night and decreases at daytime. So, the correct answer is 'Increases during night'.

CAM stands for crassulacean acid metabolism because it was first studied in members of the plant family Crassulaceae (Bryophyllum). CAM is the fixation of carbon dioxide by plants in arid condition. In normal conditions, the opening of the stomata is always connected with the large losses of water. To inhibit this loss during intense sunlight, CAM plants have developed a mechanism which allows the uptake of carbon dioxide during the night. They are more common than C$ _4$ plants and include cacti and a wide variety of other succulent plants. So, the correct answer is 'Crassulaceae'.

A) Phanerogams are seed bearing plants like Gymnosperms and Angiosperms. They have prominent stomata.

A) Stomata are open both during the day and night in ${ C } _{ 4 }$ plants, but open only at night in CAM plants.

Crassulacean acid metabolism is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions. In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide.

• $C _4$ photosynthesis incorporates novel leaf anatomy, metabolic specializations, and modified gene expression.
• Plants that utilize this pathway typically possess a distinctive Kranz leaf anatomy, consisting of two photosynthetic cell types.
• Their vascular bundles are surrounded by two rings of cells; the inner ring, called bundle sheath cells, contains starch-rich chloroplasts lacking grana, which differ from those in mesophyll cells present as the outer ring.
• This structural framework allows for the compartmentalization and functional separation of two sets of carboxylation and decarboxylation reactions.
  Hence, the correct answer is C.

CAM method is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions. In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide is then stored as a four-carbon acid, malate, and then used during photosynthesis during the day. The pre-collected CO2 is concentrated around the enzyme RuBisCO, increasing photosynthetic efficiency.

Crassulacean acid metabolism is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions. In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide. The $CO _2$ is stored as the four- carbon acid malate, and then used during photosynthesis during the day. The pre-collected $CO _2$ is concentrated around the enzyme RuBisCO, increasing photosynthetic efficiency.

In the light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis, the electron transport chain generates a proton gradient that drives the synthesis of ATP. For the production of 2 NADPH, 2 ATP are typically produced via non-cyclic photophosphorylation.

In C$ _4$ pathway for production of one molecule of glucose we require 12 NADPH$ _2$, 30 ATP and 6CO$ _2$ are required.

CO$ _2$ : NADPH$ _2$ : ATP =  6 : 12 : 30

CO$ _2$ : NADPH$ _2$ : ATP =  1 : 2 : 5

Crassulacean acid metabolism is a mechanism of photosynthesis involving double fixation of $CO _2$ which occurs in succulents belonging to Crassulaceae, Cacti, Euphorbias and some other plants of dry habitats. Here, the stomata remains closed during the daytime and opens only at night, e.g Sedum,Kalanchoe,Opuntia. Sunken stomata are deep seated stomata in which subsidiary cells lie above the guard cells.  So, the correct answer is 'Both statements are correct'.

Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) is a specialised photosynthetic process which is characterized by the following criteria given by  Osmond (1978) and Cluge and Tuge (1978). These are:

Unlike C4 plants which segregate light reactions and carbon fixation between mesophyll and bundle sheath cells, CAM plants perform both processes within the mesophyll cells. The temporal separation (night vs day) allows both the light-dependent reactions and glucose synthesis (Calvin cycle) to occur inside the mesophyll cells.

Photorespiration involves the production of glycolate. C4 and CAM pathways are adaptations that concentrate CO2 around Rubisco to minimize photorespiration.

• Crassulacean acid metabolism, also known as CAM photosynthesis, is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions.
•  At low temperatures (frequently at night), plants using CAM open their stomata, CO2 molecules diffuse into the spongy mesophyll's intracellular spaces and then into the cytoplasm. Here, they can meet phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), the CO2 acceptor.
• Hence, In CAM plants, the acceptor of CO2 is Phosphoenolpyruvate. 
•  So, the correct answer is 'Phosphoenol pyruvate'.

Spatial separation of carbon dioxide fixation and RUBISCO activity in mesophyll and bundle sheath cells of $C _4$ plants respectively avoids photorespiration by concentrating $CO _2$ in bundle sheath cells to scale down the oxygenase activity of RUBISCO and increase the RUBISCO efficiency. The increased RUBISCO efficiency allows higher rates of photosynthesis even when stomata are closed for the longer time as well as reduces photorespiration and water loss. CAM plants reduce water loss by opening the stomata at night only. Mycorrhizae are the symbiotic fungi that reside in roots of higher plants and increase soil fertility by nitrogen fixation; it does not impart any adaptive feature to plant to cope with hot and dry conditions. 

$C _4$ and CAM  plants are plants that use certain special compounds to gather carbon dioxide (CO ₂ ) during photosynthesis. Exploitation of dry and arid habitats required adaptations in the form of $C _4$ and CAM photosynthesis, which independently evolved many times during periods of low atmospheric $CO _2$ levels carried out by carried out by a non-rubisco enzyme, PEP carboxylase, that has no tendency to bind $O _2$.