Question

In what kind of plants do you come across ‘Kranz’ anatomy? To which conditions are those plants better adapted? How are these plants better adapted than the plants which lack this anatomy?

Answer 1

C4 plants:

In the C4 plant, these mesophyll cells are clustered around the bundle sheath cells and form a shape that is similar to the wreath. This arrangement seen in the leaves of C4 plants is called Kranz anatomy.

Adaptations and advantages :

● Plants lacking Kranz anatomy are susceptible to photorespiration under higher oxygen concentration in the mesophyll cells resulting in decreased productivity.
● In Kranz anatomy, RuBisCO is present in bundle sheath cells that possess thick walls impervious to gaseous exchange with no intercellular spaces thereby preventing photorespiration.
● Also, the primary acceptor of $C{O}_2$ in C4 plants is phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) present in mesophyll cells which helps in maintaining higher $C{O}_2$ concentration within bundle sheath cells.