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Cabrita PJV. Water exchange between the Chlorenchyma and the Hydrenchyma and its physiological role in leaves with Crassulacean acid metabolism. PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM 2024; 176:e14221. [PMID: 38450837 DOI: 10.1111/ppl.14221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Direct and non-destructive measurements of plant-water relations of plants exhibiting the Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthetic pathway are seldom addressed, with most findings inferred from gas exchange measurements. The main focus of this paper was to study how the water exchange between the chlorenchyma and the hydrenchyma depends on and follows the CAM photosynthetic diel pattern using non-invasive and continuous methods. Gas exchange and leaf patch clamp pressure probe (LPCP) measurements were performed on Aloe vera (L.) Burm f., a CAM species, and compared to measurements on banana (Musa acuminata Colla), a C3 species. The LPCP output pressure, Pp , of Aloe vera plants follows its diel CAM photosynthetic cycle, reversed to that observed in banana and other C3 species. The four phases of CAM photosynthesis can also be identified in the diel LPCP output pressure, Pp , cycle. The Pp values in Aloe vera are determined by the hydrenchyma turgor pressure, with both parameters being reversely related. A non-invasive and continuous assessment of the water exchange between the chlorenchyma and the hydrenchyma in CAM plants, namely, by following the changes in the hydrenchyma turgor pressure, is presented. However, showing once more how the LPCP output pressure, Pp , depends on the leaf structure, such an approach can be used to study plant-water relations in other CAM species with a leaf structure similar to Aloe vera, with the hydrenchyma composing most of the leaf volume.
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Winter K, Garcia M, Virgo A, Smith JAC. Low-level CAM photosynthesis in a succulent-leaved member of the Urticaceae, Pilea peperomioides. FUNCTIONAL PLANT BIOLOGY : FPB 2021; 48:683-690. [PMID: 33287950 DOI: 10.1071/fp20151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 10/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Pilea peperomioides Diels (Urticaceae) is a semi-succulent herbaceous species native to south-western China that has become popular in cultivation as an ornamental plant. To investigate whether this species possesses the capacity for CAM photosynthesis, measurements were made of CO2 gas exchange and titratable acidity in plants under both well-watered and water-deficit conditions. Plants were found to assimilate CO2 almost exclusively in the light via C3 photosynthesis. However, distinct transient reductions in the rate of net nocturnal CO2 release were consistently observed during the course of the dark period, and under water-deficit conditions one plant exhibited a brief period of net nocturnal CO2 uptake, providing unequivocal evidence of CAM activity. Furthermore, nocturnal increases in titratable acidity in both leaf laminas and petioles were observed in all plants exposed to wet-dry-wet cycles. This is the first report of CAM in the family Urticaceae. The results are discussed in relation to the phylogenetic position of Pilea and the partially shaded montane habitats in which this species is typically found. An updated list of all plant families currently known to contain species with CAM is presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- Klaus Winter
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama; and Corresponding author.
| | - Milton Garcia
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - Aurelio Virgo
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, PO Box 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
| | - J Andrew C Smith
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK
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Olennikov DN, Zilfikarov IN, Penzina TA. Use of Microcolumn HPLC for Analysis of Aloenin in Aloe Arborescens Raw Material and Related Drugs. Pharm Chem J 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s11094-013-0988-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Lüttge U. Ability of crassulacean acid metabolism plants to overcome interacting stresses in tropical environments. AOB PLANTS 2010; 2010:plq005. [PMID: 22476063 PMCID: PMC3000696 DOI: 10.1093/aobpla/plq005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2010] [Revised: 03/16/2010] [Accepted: 05/10/2010] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Single stressors such as scarcity of water and extreme temperatures dominate the struggle for life in severely dry desert ecosystems or cold polar regions and at high elevations. In contrast, stress in the tropics typically arises from a dynamic network of interacting stressors, such as availability of water, CO(2), light and nutrients, temperature and salinity. This requires more plastic spatio-temporal responsiveness and versatility in the acquisition and defence of ecological niches. CRASSULACEAN ACID METABOLISM The mode of photosynthesis of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is described and its flexible expression endows plants with powerful strategies for both acclimation and adaptation. Thus, CAM plants are able to inhabit many diverse habitats in the tropics and are not, as commonly thought, successful predominantly in dry, high-insolation habitats. TROPICAL CAM HABITATS Typical tropical CAM habitats or ecosystems include exposed lava fields, rock outcrops of inselbergs, salinas, savannas, restingas, high-altitude páramos, dry forests and moist forests. MORPHOTYPICAL AND PHYSIOTYPICAL PLASTICITY OF CAM Morphotypical and physiotypical plasticity of CAM phenotypes allow a wide ecophysiological amplitude of niche occupation in the tropics. Physiological and biochemical plasticity appear more responsive by having more readily reversible variations in performance than do morphological adaptations. This makes CAM plants particularly fit for the multi-factor stressor networks of tropical forests. Thus, while the physiognomy of semi-deserts outside the tropics is often determined by tall succulent CAM plants, tropical forests house many more CAM plants in terms of quantity (biomass) and quality (species diversity).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulrich Lüttge
- Institute of Botany, Technical University of Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 3-5, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany
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Olennikov DN, Rokhin AV, Zilfikarov IN. Method for determining content of phenolic compounds in Aloe arborescens. Chem Nat Compd 2009. [DOI: 10.1007/s10600-009-9192-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Bruni A, Tosi B. A Method for the Pharmacognostic Study ofAloeSpecies Using Fluorescence Microscopy. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2008. [DOI: 10.3109/13880208209055185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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Ni Y, Turner D, Yates KM, Tizard I. Isolation and characterization of structural components of Aloe vera L. leaf pulp. Int Immunopharmacol 2005; 4:1745-55. [PMID: 15531291 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2004.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 127] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The clear pulp, also known as inner gel, of Aloe vera L. leaf is widely used in various medical, cosmetic and nutraceutical applications. Many beneficial effects of this plant have been attributed to the polysaccharides present in the pulp. However, discrepancies exist regarding the composition of pulp polysaccharide species and an understanding of pulp structure in relation to its chemical composition has been lacking. Thus, we examined pulp structure, isolated structural components and determined their carbohydrate compositions along with analyzing a partially purified pulp-based product (Acemannan hydrogel) used to make Carrisyn hydrogel wound dressing. Light and electron microscopy showed that the pulp consisted of large clear mesophyll cells with a diameter as large as 1000 microm. These cells were composed of cell walls and cell membranes along with a very limited number of degenerated cellular organelles. No intact cellular organelles were found in mesophyll cells. Following disruption of pulp by homogenization, three components were isolated by sequential centrifugation. They were thin clear sheets, microparticles and a viscous liquid gel, which corresponded to cell wall, degenerated cellular organelles and liquid content of mesophyll cells based on morphological and chemical analysis. These three components accounted for 16.2% (+/-3.8), 0.70% (+/-0) and 83.1% of the pulp on a dry weight basis. The carbohydrate composition of each component was distinct; liquid gel contained mannan, microparticles contained galactose-rich polysaccharide(s) and cell walls contained an unusually high level of galacturonic acid (34%, w/w; Gal A). The same three components were also found in Acemannan Hydrogel with mannan as the predominant component. Thus, different pulp structural components are associated with different polysaccharides and thus may potentially be different functionally. These findings may help lay a basis for further studies and development of better controlled processing methods and applications for this well-accepted medicinal plant.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y Ni
- DelSite Biotechnologies lab. c/o Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
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Honda H, Akagi H, Shimada H. An isozyme of the NADP-malic enzyme of a CAM plant, Aloe arborescens, with variation on conservative amino acid residues. Gene 2000; 243:85-92. [PMID: 10675616 DOI: 10.1016/s0378-1119(99)00556-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
In Aloe arborescens, an obligate CAM plant, Western analysis detected three major isoforms of NADP-malic enzyme (NADP-ME), 72kDa with a pI of 6.0, 65kDa with a pI of 5.6 and 65kDa with a pI of 5.5. Among them, the 65kDa protein with a pI of 5.5 was leaf-specific, and the 65kDa protein with a pI of 5.6 was found only in roots, whereas the 72kDa protein was uniformly detected in both organs. Activity staining indicated enzyme activity of both 65kDa NADP-MEs but little activity of the 72kDa protein. A cDNA clone encoding a leaf-abundant NADP-ME, AME1, was isolated. Deduced amino acid sequence of AME1 showed a high degree of homology to known NADP-MEs, but it was also found that AME1 contained substitutions on five conservative amino acid residues, some of which have been predicted to be important for their enzyme activity. Transgenic rice carrying the aloe AME1 gene efficiently produced an additional 65kDa protein with a pI of 5.5 as an active NADP-ME. These results indicate that AME1 corresponds to the leaf-specific 65kDa NADP-ME, which may be involved in CAM photosynthesis. It was also shown that substitutions of these conservative amino acid residues identified in AME1 still allowed it to give enzyme activity.
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MESH Headings
- Aloe/enzymology
- Aloe/genetics
- Aloe/metabolism
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Amino Acids/genetics
- Blotting, Northern
- Circadian Rhythm
- Conserved Sequence
- DNA, Complementary/chemistry
- DNA, Complementary/genetics
- DNA, Complementary/isolation & purification
- Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic
- Gene Expression Regulation, Plant
- Genetic Variation
- Isoenzymes/genetics
- Malate Dehydrogenase/genetics
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Oryza/genetics
- Plant Leaves/enzymology
- Plant Leaves/genetics
- Plants, Genetically Modified
- Plants, Medicinal
- RNA, Plant/genetics
- RNA, Plant/metabolism
- Sequence Analysis, DNA
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
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Affiliation(s)
- H Honda
- Life Sciences Laboratory, Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., 1144 Togo, Mobara, Japan
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Lüttge U, Medina E, Cram WJ, Lee HSJ, Popp M, Smith JAC. Ecophysiology of xerophytic and halophytic vegetation of a coastal alluvial plain in northern Venezuela: II. Cactaceae. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 1989; 111:245-251. [PMID: 33874266 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.1989.tb00689.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
In an ecophysiological field investigation of plant communities of vegetation islands of an alluvial plain in northern Venezuela the members of the Cactaceae, Pereskia guamacho, and a columnar ceroid cactus, Subpilosocereus ottonis, were studied. The alluvial plain was flooded by fresh water in the rainy season in November/December 1985 and was dry and saline in the dry season in March/April 1986. The highly succulent leaves of P. guamacho were shed in the dry season. They performed C3 photosynthesis in the wet season and did not show signs of considerable salt accumulation. P. guamacho avoids stress due to drought and salinity by leaf-shedding. The columnar stem succulent ceroids are salt-excluding plants with crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). Rapid die back and regeneration of absorptive roots, water parenchyma and CAM, with the possibility of nocturnal stomatal closure and CO2 recycling, are traits of adaptive value under fluctuating conditions between rainy and dry seasons on the alluvial plain.
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Affiliation(s)
- U Lüttge
- Institut für Botanik, Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, D-6100 Darmstadt, FRG, Venezuela
| | - E Medina
- Centro de Ecologia y Ciencias Ambientales, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas, Caracas 1020-A, Venezuela
| | - W J Cram
- Department of Biology, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
| | - H S J Lee
- Institut für Botanik, Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, D-6100 Darmstadt, FRG, Venezuela
- Department of Biology, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
| | - M Popp
- Institut für Pflanzenphysiologie der Universität, A-1091 Wien, Austria
- Institut für Angewandte Botanik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, D-4400 Münster, FRG, UK
| | - J A C Smith
- Institut für Pflanzenphysiologie der Universität, A-1091 Wien, Austria
- Department of Botany, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JH, UK
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Earnshaw MJ, Carver KA, Charlton WA. Leaf anatomy, water relations and crassulacean acid metabolism in the chlorenchyma and colourless internal water-storage tissue of Carpobrotus edulis and Senecio ?mandraliscae. PLANTA 1987; 170:421-432. [PMID: 24232974 DOI: 10.1007/bf00395036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/1986] [Accepted: 11/06/1986] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Both Carpobrotus edulis and Senecio ?mandraliscae possess leaves with a peripheral chlorenchyma and colourless internal water-storage tissue. Water stress in C. edulis growing under semi-natural conditions resulted in the induction of weak Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) whereas well-watered plants of S. ?mandraliscae exhibited a similar degree of CAM. Titratable acidity in the separated water-storage tissue was substantially lower than in the chlorenchyma in both species but, nevertheless, increased during the night and decreased during the day either when sampled from the intact plant or from incubated tissue slices. Indeed, the increase in nocturnal titratable acidity produced by the water-storage tissue in situ accounted for approx. 30% of total acidification on a per-leaf basis. It appears that during the night the water-storage tissue in these species is able to fix CO2 which is subsequently released during the day to enter the photosynthetic carbon-reduction cycle of the chlorenchyma. Diurnal rhythms of water potential (Ψ) and osmotic potential (Ψs) were measured in separated chlorenchyma and water-storage tissue by thermocouple psychrometry. Both parameters increased during the latter part of the daytime and initial nocturnal period and decreased during the rest of the night and into the post-dawn period. The chlorenchyma of water-stressed plants of C. edulis appeared to possess a marked negative turgor pressure (as determined from Ψ-Ψs) but this was caused by a severe underestimation in the measurement of the chlorenchyma Ψ. It is suggested that this artefact arose from release of colloidal polysaccharide mucilage, or possibly tannins, from broken tannin cells producing a lowering of water activity when measured using thermocouple psychrometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- M J Earnshaw
- Department of Cell and Structural Biology, University of Manchester, Williamson Building, M13 9PL, Manchester, UK
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Smith JA, Lüttge U. Day-night changes in leaf water relations associated with the rhythm of crassulacean acid metabolism in Kalanchoë daigremontiana. PLANTA 1985; 163:272-282. [PMID: 24249350 DOI: 10.1007/bf00393518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/1984] [Accepted: 07/21/1984] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
A study was made of the day-night changes under controlled environmental conditions in the bulk-leaf water relations of Kalanchoë daigremontiana, a plant showing Crassulacean acid metabolism. In addition to nocturnal stomatal opening and net CO2 uptake, the leaves of well-watered plants showed high rates of gas exchange during the whole of the second part of the light period. Measurements with the pressure chamber showed that xylem tension increased during the night and then decreased towards a minimum at about midday; a significant increase in xylem tension was also seen in the late afternoon. Cell-sap osmotic pressure paralleled leaf malate content and was maximum at dawn and minimum at dusk. The relationship between these two variables indicated that the nocturnally synthesized malate was apparently behaving as an ideal osmoticum. To estimate bulk-leaf turgor pressure, values for water potential were derived by correcting the pressurechamber readings for the osmotic pressure of the xylem sap. This itself was found to depend on the malate content of the leaves. Bulk-leaf turgor pressure changed rhythmically during the day-night cycle; turgor was low during the late afternoon and for most of the night, but increased quickly to a maximum of 0.20 MPa around midday. In water-stressed plants, where net CO2 uptake was restricted to the dark period, there was also an increase in bulk-leaf turgor pressure at the start of the light period, but of reduced magnitude. Such changes in turgor pressure are likely to be of considerable ecological importance for the water economy of crassulacean-acid-metabolism plants growing in their natural habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Smith
- Institut für Botanik, Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstrasse 3-5, D-6100, Darmstadt, Germany
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12
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Knoth R, Klein P, Hansmann P. Morphological and chemical studies on the crystalloid-forming 'succulent protein' from normal and ribosome-deficient Aeonium domesticum plastids. PLANTA 1984; 161:105-112. [PMID: 24253597 DOI: 10.1007/bf00395469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/1983] [Accepted: 12/27/1983] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Aeonium domesticum cv. variegatum is a mesochimera of the constitution green/white/green with normal proplastids and chloroplasts in the unaffected tissues and ribosome-deficient colourless mutant plastids in the white leaf tissues. All the different plastid types contain 'succulent protein crystalloids' (SPC). For more detailed characterization, the SPC elements were freed from the plastids and purified by gel filtration. Electron microscopy of different fractions revealed five levels of structural organization. Beginning with the most complex state, the levels are designated as 'succulent protein (SP) organizational state' V (hexagonally arranged and closely packed tubules in the stroma of intact plastids) to I (globular protomers of 5 nm diameter as the basic structure of SPCs). Highly purified SP-fractions were shown by means of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to consist of two or three proteins of Mr 56 kdalton, 58 kdalton and 60 kdalton, depending on the buffer medium used for SP isolation and the duration of storage of leaves in the frozen state. In the urea/SDS-PAGE system, these proteins show similar mobilities to α- and β-tubulin, but no immunoreaction against antitubulin. The proteolytic cleavage pattern of tubulin subunits and SP proteins are different. Their locations on two-dimensional isoelectric focusing-SDS gels show some overlappings because of microheterogeneities in both proteins in the pH gradient from pH 4.5 to 6.5. Malatedehydrogenase activity could not be detected in the purified SP fractions.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Knoth
- Lehrstuhl für Zellbiologie, Biologisches Institut II der Universität, Schänzlestraße 1, D-7800, Freiburg i. Br., Federal Republic of Germany
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