ArticleAnnals of botany2020
Are thick leaves, large mesophyll cells and small intercellular air spaces requisites for CAM?
Article in Annals of botany, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Stronger expression of crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) requires effective cuticular transpiration barriers but not necessarily strong succulence.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Evolutionary Changes in Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) and Related Traits During the Diversification ofEcology and evolution · 2026Article
- A rapid freezing method to determine tissue layer thickness in drought-stressed leaves.Journal of microscopy · 2025Article
- Chlorophyll fluorescence responses to COJournal of plant research · 2025Article
- CAM plants: their importance in epiphyte communities and prospects with global change.Annals of botany · 2023Review
- Photosynthesis and leaf structure of F1 hybrids between Cymbidium ensifolium (C3) and C. bicolor subsp. pubescens (CAM).Annals of botany · 2023Article
- Exploring CScientific reports · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsIt is commonly accepted that the leaf of a crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plant is thick, with large mesophyll cells and vacuoles that can accommodate the malic acid produced during the night. The link between mesophyll characteristics and CAM mode, whether obligate or C3/CAM, was evaluated.
methodsPublished values of the carbon isotopic ratio (δ 13C) as an indicator of CAM, leaf thickness, leaf micrographs and other evidence of CAM operation were used to correlate cell density, cell area, the proportion of intercellular space in the mesophyll (IAS) and the length of cell wall facing the intercellular air spaces (Lmes/A) with CAM mode. KEY
resultsBased on 81 species and relatively unrelated families (15) belonging to nine orders, neither leaf thickness nor mesophyll traits helped explain the degree of CAM expression. A strong correlation was found between leaf thickness and δ 13C in some species of Crassulaceae and between leaf thickness and nocturnal acid accumulation in a few obligate CAM species of Bromeliaceae but, when all 81 species were pooled together, no significant changes with δ 13C were observed in cell density, cell area, IAS or Lmes/A.
conclusionsAn influence of phylogeny on leaf anatomy was evidenced in a few cases but this precluded generalization for widely separate taxa containing CAM species. The possible relationships between leaf anatomy and CAM mode should be interpreted cautiously.
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