Uncovering Crassulacean acid metabolism: the methods behind a complex trait, in a complex plant

"Agricultural land is becoming increasingly more droughted, causing crop loss. Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a carbon capture mechanism that exists in ~7% of all plants. By temporally separating carbon fixation and photosynthesis, these plants are capable of increasing their water-use efficiency 10-fold. CAM can be constitutive, facultative or inducible. Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is an inducible CAM plant. Leaves use C3 photosynthesis early in their development and then transition to use CAM as they age, or due to an abiotic stress. To investigate this plant, we used an -omics approach alongside, conventional and modern gas exchange, titrations and plant physiology. Our study has shown how metabolisms can mask each other and discovered more complexity behind CAM. To uncover plants with a CAM cycle we need to develop new methods, modernize old methods, and reapply knowledge."