Quantum Yields of CAM Plants Measured by Photosynthetic O2 Exchange

The quantum yield of photosynthetic O(2) exchange was measured in eight species of leaf succulents representative of both malic enzyme type and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase type CAM plants. Measurements were made at 25 degrees C and CO(2) saturation using a leaf disc O(2) electrode system, either during or after deacidification. The mean quantum yield was 0.095 +/- 0.012 (sd) moles O(2) per mole quanta, which compared with 0.094 +/- 0.006 (sd) moles O(2) per mole quanta for spinach leaf discs measured under the same conditions. There were no consistent differences in quantum yield between decarboxylation types or during different phases of CAM metabolism. On the basis of current notions of compartmentation of CAM biochemistry, our observations are interpreted to indicate that CO(2) refixation is energetically independent of gluconeogenesis during deacidification.