Ecophysiology of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM)
Annals of Botany 93: 629±652, 2004 doi:10.1093/aob/mch087, available online at www.aob.oupjournals.org INVITED REVIEW Ecophysiology of Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) ULRICH LUÈ TTGE* Institute of Botany, Technical University of Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 3±5, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany Received: 3 October 2003 Returned for revision: 17 December 2003 Accepted: 20 January 2004 d Background and Scope Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) as an ecophysiological modi®cation of photo- synthetic carbon acquisition has been reviewed extensively before. Cell biology, enzymology and the ¯ow of carbon along various pathways and through various cellular compartments have been well documented and dis- cussed. The present attempt at reviewing CAM once again tries to use a different approach, considering a wide range of inputs, receivers and outputs. d Input Input is given by a network of environmental parameters. Six major ones, CO2,H2O, light, temperature, nutrients and salinity, are considered in detail, which allows discussion of the effects of these factors, and combinations thereof, at the individual plant level (`physiological aut-ecology'). d Receivers Receivers of the environmental cues are the plant types genotypes and phenotypes, the latter includ- ing morphotypes and physiotypes. CAM genotypes largely remain `black boxes', and research endeavours of genomics, producing mutants and following molecular phylogeny, are just beginning. There is no special development of CAM morphotypes except for a strong tendency for leaf or stem succulence with large cells with big vacuoles and often, but not always, special water storage tissues. Various CAM physiotypes with differing degrees of CAM expression are well characterized. d Output Output is the shaping of habitats, ecosystems and communities by CAM.
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