Photosynthesis/carbon assimilation in CAM plants

[Harald Teicher]

S›ren Laurentius Nielsen (nielsen at RUC.DK) wrote:
: For some years I have worked with intrinsic factors that are likely to 
: limit/regulate plant photosynthesis. With intrinsic factors I mean parameters 
: such as specific leaf area (SLA) and other architectural parameters, 
: chlorophyll content and concentration, N and P content etc. I have recently 
: become interested in CAM plants. Due to their succulence, these plants 
: usually have very thick photosynthetic structures (stems or leaves), which 
: serves them in enabling them to store large quantities of water. However, CAM 
: plants have to pay a price for this: They have low concentrations of N and P, 
: as well as of chlorophyll (this is based on my own measurements as well as on 
: literature values), and they are also reported in the literature to have 
: low growth rates. I would very much like to compare the capacity for 
: photosynthesis (or perhaps rather the capacity for carbon assimilation) of CAM 
: plants with similar capacities for C3 and C4 plants. However, because CAM 
: plants assimilate most of their carbon during night, you can not just go out 
: and measure P-I curves as you can with C3 and C4 plants. I would therefore 
: very much like to hear from people who have any ideas or suggestions on how 
: and under which circumstances to measure and express rates of photosynthesis 
: or carbon assimilation in CAM plants, in a way so that it can be compared with 
: similar rates in C3 and C4 plants. Any ideas, comments, pointers to literature 
: etc. will be welcome.

: Thanks in advance,

: Søren L. Nielsen
: Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry
: Roskilde University
: PO Box 260, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark


try bionet.photosynthesis