Plants that fix CO2 into organic acids at night when the stomata are open and carry out the Calvin cycle?

Question

Plants that fix CO2 into organic acids at night when the stoma are open and carry out the Calvin cycle during the day when the soma are closed are called

a) C3 plants

b) C4 plants

c) CAM plants

d) only a and b are correct

e) A, B, and C are correct

Answer 1

CAM plants fix CO2 at night when stomata are open.  They keep their stomata closed during the day to prevent water loss.  Thus, CAM is an adaptation to dry environments.

Answer 2

Hi Nadine,

There are more than 8000 species of flowering plants which have developed adaptations to minimize the losses to photorespiration by separating their C3 and C4 pathways into different parts of the plant.  These are C4 plants (see link below); such as, corn, crabgrass, sugarcane and sorghum.  The C4 plants conduct their Calvin cycle deep in the leaf to reduce loss of moisture in areas with high daytime temperatures and intense sunlight.

CAM (stands for Crassulacean Acid Mmetabolism because it was first studied in members of the Crassulaceae) plants are C4 plants that have separated their C3 and C4 pathways by time of day instead of different parts of the leaf.  These plants include cacti, bryophyllum, epiphytic bromeliads and sedums which exist in conditions of high daytime temperatures, intense sunlight and low soil moisture.

"c) CAM plants" is the answer.

I hope this helps.

Hiking Tony