C4/c3/cam

Philosophos

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This is a topic I've been reading about on and off. It seems to be the (or perhaps an) obvious difference between low and high CO2 requirement plants. What's got me scratching my head is why more plant sites and books don't list which method of fixation is used within their plant profiles.

I wouldn't mind discussing this topic, and figuring out whether or not it's worth putting together a list of plants based on their carbon fixation methods.

Oh, here's a nice little article on the subject and how it applies to hydrilla (everyone's favorite SAM to do a study about):
C4 Acid Metabolism and Dark CO2 Fixation in a Submersed Aquatic Macrophyte (Hydrilla verticillata) -- Holaday and Bowes 65 (2): 331 -- PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

-Philosophos
 

Tom Barr

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I think it really does not matter than much to us, as hobbyist really.
More adaptive, Bicarb usage etc, vs non Bicarb use etc.

Isoetes is really the only CAM aquatic, see John Keely's work on that one.
C4 transitional species/intermediates are common, so is bicarb use in more aquatically adapted species.

Means they are more aggressive weeds really, the CAM trades the speed for temporal acquisition of CO2 at night. Works for some plants.
Still, I've found Isoetes at 8000ft in alpine lakes with no other plants and high CO2.
They had little reason to use CAM there. Cold as heck too.

Sort of the last place you'd expect to find a CAM plant.
CAM, C4/C3 etc, all ends up as malate anyway. Several pathways way to get there.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

Philosophos

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When you say weedy, you mean resilient and fast growing, correct? If so, then this is exactly what I find a lot of people first getting into the hobby look for in a plant. While it may not make much of a difference to hobbyists with decent methods, I thought it would at least be an easy way to separate out a group of easier plants for the less experienced.

Are there C4 plants that are typically a challenge to grow?

Naturally I'm not counting my bacopa issues right now :p

-Philosophos