Summary
Evidence for the operation of CAM in the deciduous climber, Cissus trifoliata L., was obtained in field and laboratory studies. Under natural conditions, diurnal oscillations of titratable acidity and colorimetric measurements of night CO2 fixation, determined for a period of two and a half years, suggested that acid accumulation was related to plant water status, assessed through the daily courses of stomatal resistance and xylem water potential during dry and rainy seasons. These findings were confirmed by gas exchange studies under controlled conditions which showed that the plant fixed all its CO2 during the day when it was well irrigated; as water stress increased, dark CO2 uptake gradually replaced fixation during the day until the plant only performed dark fixation. In severe water stress, even the rate of the latter process decreased until leaves fell.
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Abbreviations
- CAM:
-
Crassulacean acid metabolism
- FW:
-
leaf fresh weight
- SWC:
-
relative soil water content
- PAR:
-
photosynthetically active radiation
- TR:
-
total radiation; r, leaf diffusive resistance
- WSD:
-
water saturation deficit (leaf-air vapour concentration difference)
- RWC:
-
relative water content of leaves
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Olivares, E., Urich, R., Montes, G. et al. Occurrence of Crassulacean acid metabolism in Cissus trifoliata L. (Vitaceae). Oecologia 61, 358–362 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379635
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379635