Transcriptomic and Biochemical Analysis Reveal Integrative Pathways Between Carbon and Nitrogen Metabolism in (Bromeliaceae) Under Drought.

Most epiphytes are found in low-nutrient environments with an intermittent water supply. To deal with water limitation, many bromeliads perform crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), such as , which shifts from C to CAM and can recycle CO from the respiration while stomata remain closed during daytime and nighttime (CAM-idling mode). Since the absorbing leaf trichomes can be in contact with organic (urea) and inorganic nutrients (NO , NH ) and the urea hydrolysis releases NH and CO, we hypothesized that urea can integrate the N and C metabolism during periods of severe drought.

What does the RuBisCO activity tell us about a C-CAM plant?

Plants that perform the Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), which obtain CO overnight and convert it mainly in malic acid, successfully grow in environments with water and nutrient shortages, that is partly associated with their higher water- and nitrogen-use efficiencies. Water and nutrient limitations can impair photosynthesis through the reduction of RuBisCO and increment of photorespiration, disturbing the plant carbon balance. In this context, we conducted a controlled experiment with the epiphytic C-CAM bromeliad Guzmania monostachia to investigate how the combined water and nutritional deficits affect the activity of RuBisCO and its activation state (RAS), and to evaluate the efficiency of photosynthesis during the transition from C to CAM.

Transcriptional foliar profile of the C3-CAM bromeliad Guzmania monostachia.

Guzmania monostachia is an epiphytic tank bromeliad that displays the inducible CAM photosynthesis under stressful conditions and had the highest stomata density in the leaf apex, while the base portion has the highest density of trichomes, which are specialized structures used to acquire water and nutrients from the tank solution. In order to correlate the genetic factors behind these morpho-physiological characteristics along the leaf blade of G. monostachia, a comparative transcriptome analysis was performed to identify the functional enriched pathways and unigenes that could play a role in the apical, middle and basal leaf portions.

Exposure of Catasetum fimbriatum aerial roots to light coordinates carbon partitioning between source and sink organs in an auxin dependent manner.

Light energy is essential for carbon metabolism in plants, as well as controlling the transport of metabolites between the organs. While terrestrial plants have a distinct structural and functional separation between the light exposed aerial parts and the non-exposed roots, epiphytic plants, such as orchids, have shoots and roots simultaneously fully exposed to light. The roots of orchids differ mainly from non-orchidaceous plants in their ability to photosynthesize.

The contribution of weak CAM to the photosynthetic metabolic activities of a bromeliad species under water deficit.

The Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) can be a transitory strategy for saving water during unfavourable conditions, like a dry season. In some cases, CAM can also contribute to the maintenance of photosynthetic integrity, even if carbon gain and growth are impaired. CAM occurs in different intensities, being stronger or weaker depending on the degree of nocturnal malic acid accumulation.

n. sp. (Clitellata: Hirudinida), a bromeliad leech from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Tank bromeliads are important components of tropical forests and are capable of hosting many species of invertebrates in their tank water, such as insect larvae, ostracods and oligochaetes (Frank & Lounibos 2009; Jocque & Field 2014; Richardson 1999).

Effects of predatory ants within and across ecosystems in bromeliad food webs.

Predation is one of the most fundamental ecological processes affecting biotic communities. Terrestrial predators that live at ecosystem boundaries may alter the diversity of terrestrial organisms, but they may also have cross-ecosystem cascading effects when they feed on organisms with complex life cycles (i.e.

Trade-off between soluble protein production and nutritional storage in Bromeliaceae.

Background And Aims: Bromeliads are able to occupy some of the most nutrient-poor environments especially because they possess absorptive leaf trichomes, leaves organized in rosettes, distinct photosynthetic pathways [C, Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) or facultative C-CAM], and may present an epiphytic habit. The more derived features related to these traits are described for the Tillandsioideae subfamily. In this context, the aims of this study were to evaluate how terrestrial predators contribute to the nutrition and performance of bromeliad species, subfamilies and ecophysiological types, whether these species differ in their ecophysiological traits and whether the physiological outcomes are consistent among subfamilies and types (e.

Species-Specific Effects of Ant Inhabitants on Bromeliad Nutrition.

Predator activities may lead to the accumulation of nutrients in specific areas of terrestrial habitats where they dispose of prey carcasses. In their feeding sites, predators may increase nutrient availability in the soil and favor plant nutrition and growth. However, the translocation of nutrients from one habitat to another may depend on predator identity and diet, as well as on the amount of prey intake.

A new species of Xystonotus Wolcott, 1900 (Acari, Hydrachnidia, Mideopsidae) from bromeliad phytotelmata in Brazilian Atlantic rainforest.

The rosette architecture of some bromeliad species traps water and organic matter from the canopy in leaf axils (forming phytotelmata) and harbors many species of invertebrate animals (Frank & Lounibos 2009). Some water mites are adapted to live in phytotelmata; typically recorded from water-filled tree holes, bromeliad tanks, and a range of plant axils. Karl Viets (1939) was the first acarologist who discovered Micruracaropsis phytotelmaticola (Viets, 1939) in the water contained in the leaf bases of epiphytic Bromeliaceae in Surinam.

Spider-fed bromeliads: seasonal and interspecific variation in plant performance.

Background And Aims: Several animals that live on bromeliads can contribute to plant nutrition through nitrogen provisioning (digestive mutualism). The bromeliad-living spider Psecas chapoda (Salticidae) inhabits and breeds on Bromelia balansae in regions of South America, but in specific regions can also appear on Ananas comosus (pineapple) plantations and Aechmea distichantha.

Methods: Using isotopic and physiological methods in greenhouse experiments, the role of labelled ((15)N) spider faeces and Drosophila melanogaster flies in the nutrition and growth of each host plant was evaluated, as well as seasonal variation in the importance of this digestive mutualism.

Nitrogen fluxes from treefrogs to tank epiphytic bromeliads: an isotopic and physiological approach.

Diverse invertebrate and vertebrate species live in association with plants of the large Neotropical family Bromeliaceae. Although previous studies have assumed that debris of associated organisms improves plant nutrition, so far little evidence supports this assumption. In this study we used isotopic ((15)N) and physiological methods to investigate if the treefrog Scinax hayii, which uses the tank epiphytic bromeliad Vriesea bituminosa as a diurnal shelter, contributes to host plant nutrition.