CO2 Fixation in Opuntia Roots

Nonautotrophic CO(2) metabolism in Opuntia echinocarpa roots was studied with techniques of manometry and radiometry. The roots were grown in a one-quarter strength nutrient solution for several days; the distal 2 cm was used for physiological studies. The roots assimilated significant quantities of (14)CO(2) and appeared to show a crassulacean-type acid metabolism with respect to quality and quantity. Most of the (14)C activity was associated with the distal portion of the elongating root indicating correlation with metabolic activity. The (14)CO(2) assimilation was comparable to a crassulacean leaf succulent, but 3 times greater than that found for stem tissue of the same Opuntia species.The rates of O(2) and CO(2) exchange and estimated CO(2) fixation were 180, 123, and 57 mul/g per hour. A respiratory quotient of 0.66 was found.The products of (14)CO(2) fixation were similar in most respects to reported experiments with leaf succulents. Equilibration of the predominant malic acid with isocitric, succinic, and fumaric acids was not evident. The latter observation was interpreted as metabolic isolation of the fixation products rather than poor citric acid cycle activity.A rapid turnover of the fixed (14)CO(2) was measured by following decarboxlyation kinetics and by product analysis after a postincubation period. The first order rate constant for the steady state release was 4.4 x 10(-3) min(-1) with a half-time of 157.5 minutes. Amino acids decayed at a more rapid rate than organic acids.