TY  - JOUR
AU  - Gouws, L. M.
AU  - Osmond, C. B.
AU  - Schurr, U.
AU  - Walter, A.
TI  - Distinctive diel growth cycles in leaves and cladodes of CAM plants: complex interactions with substrate availability, turgor and cytoplasmic pH
JO  - Functional plant biology
VL  - 32
SN  - 1445-4408
CY  - Collingwood, Victoria
PB  - CSIRO Publ.
M1  - PreJuSER-45875
SP  - 421 - 428
PY  - 2005
N1  - Record converted from VDB: 12.11.2012
AB  - Distinct diel rhythms of leaf and cladode expansion growth were obtained in crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plants under water-limited conditions, with maxima at mid-day during phase III of CO2 assimilation. This pattern coincided with the availability of CO2 for photosynthesis and growth during the decarboxylation of malic acid, with maximum cell turgor due to the nocturnally accumulated malic acid, and with the period of low cytoplasmic pH associated with malic acid movement from vacuole to cytosol. Maximum growth rates were generally only 20% of those in C-3 plants and were reached at a different time of the day compared with C-3 plants. The results suggest that malic acid, as a source of carbohydrates, and a determinant of turgor and cytoplasmic pH, plays a major role in the control of diel growth dynamics in CAM plants under desert conditions. The observed plasticity in phasing of growth rhythms under situations of differing water availability suggests that a complex network of factors controls the diel growth patterns in CAM plants and needs to be investigated further.
KW  - J (WoSType)
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000229373900006
DO  - DOI:10.1071/FP05074
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/45875
ER  -