How succulents survive without water decoded

How succulents survive without water decoded

Context:

According to scientists, drought- resistant plants such as cacti and succulents make use of an enhanced form of photosynthesis to minimize water loss.

Introduction:

• The research, published in journal “the Plant Cell”, could be used to help produce new crops that can thrive in previously inhospitable, hot and dry region across the world.
• Photosynthesis involves taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to convert into sugars using sunlight.

Drought –resistant plants:

• Such plants make use of enhanced form of photosynthesis.
• Drought-resistant plants, such as cacti, agaves and succulents, make use of an enhanced form of photosynthesis known as crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM).
• Unlike other plant, CAM plants are able to take up CO2 during the cooler night, which reduce water loss, and store captured CO2 as malic acid inside the cell, allowing its use for photosynthesis without water loss during the next day.
• CAM photosynthesis is regulated by the plant’s internal circadian clock, which allows plants to differentiate and pre-empt day and night and adjust their metabolism accordingly.
• Researchers looked at an enzyme called PPCK that is involved in controlling the conversion of CO2 to its overnight stored form.
• Researchers wanted to know if PPCK is a necessary component for engineering CAM photosynthesis and tested this by switching the PPCK gene off in the succulent CAM plant Kalanchoe fedschenkoi.
• For CAM to work properly, the cell must switch on PPCK each night driven by internal circadian clock.