Question

Is maize a CAM plant?

Answer 1

CAM plants:

1. CAM plants have Crassulacean Acid Metabolism.
2. They have photoactive stomata and fix CO₂ at night but form sugars only during the day when RuBisCO is active.
3. CAM is an adaptation in response to the water supply.
4. It is mostly seen in plants present in arid environments.

C4 plants:

1. C4 plants are the ones that use the hatch-slack pathway for the fixation of carbon dioxide.
2. The first product of carbon fixation through the C4 pathway is a 4-carbon compound.
3. C4 plants lack photorespiration and have greater productivity of biomass.

Maize:

1. The first product of carbon fixation in maize is oxaloacetate (OAA), which is a 4-carbon compound.
2. Thus, maize is a C4 plant and not a CAM plant.
3. It has special leaf anatomy called Kranz anatomy to tolerate high temperatures, a characteristic feature of C4 plants.
4. C4 plants are more efficient in photosynthesis than C3 plants.