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Respiratory Metabolism in CAM Plants

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Plant Respiration: Metabolic Fluxes and Carbon Balance

Part of the book series: Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration ((AIPH,volume 43))

Summary

CAM metabolism involves a CO2 concentration mechanism in which organic acids are used as transitory carbon storage. The substrate on which CO2 is fixed derives from sugars via glycolysis. Therefore, CAM metabolism is intrinsically linked to enzymatic steps of catabolism and respiration. Respiration is essential to recycle products of malate metabolism (pyruvate) or to provide energy and reductive power sustaining malate synthesis and accumulation. Despite this importance, many aspects of CAM respiration are not well known, including flux quantitation, regulation and possible alternative pathways. The present Chapter summarizes key concepts and known enzymatic actors and emphasizes the need for a greater precision in CAM respiratory pathways.

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Acknowledgements

The present Chapter has been written with the financial support of the Australian Research Council (project contract FT140100645).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research School of Biology, College of Science, Australian National University, Canberra, 2601, ACT, Australia

    Guillaume Tcherkez

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  1. Guillaume Tcherkez
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Correspondence to Guillaume Tcherkez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research School of Biology, College of Science, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Guillaume Tcherkez

  2. Laboratoire d’Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution (ESE), UMR 8079, Université de Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université de Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France

    Jaleh Ghashghaie

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Tcherkez, G. (2017). Respiratory Metabolism in CAM Plants. In: Tcherkez, G., Ghashghaie, J. (eds) Plant Respiration: Metabolic Fluxes and Carbon Balance. Advances in Photosynthesis and Respiration, vol 43. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68703-2_11

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