Smithsonian Studies Orchids for Survival Tips

A press release from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute explains that “Plants can't escape from stressful environments, but they can be surprisingly flexible when subjected to extreme temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns—both likely to become more common under current climate-change scenarios.”

So researchers from nine countries will gather to discuss one system that plants use to cope with stress – CAM. Plants that have CAM, short for Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, lose less water in carbohydrate production than do plants that take up carbon dioxide during the day.

Some of the most conspicuous tropical plants, the orchids and bromeliads, grow high on exposed tree branches where water is scarce even during the rainy season. In Panama, there are more than 1,150 orchid species and 180 species of bromeliads. The most extreme epiphytes—plants that grow on other plants—include the nearly rootless air plant Tillandsia usneoides, Spanish moss.

Because they are so diverse, CAM plants provide excellent systems to understand the range of ways that plants photosynthesize. Katia Silvera, doctoral student at the University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, whose father is one of Panama's most well-respected orchid collectors, will discuss the genetic regulation of CAM in orchids.

The astonishing diversity of CAM species including pineapple, aloe, cacti and Clusia trees native to Panama. All trees are not alike in terms of water use. For example, because of its water-conserving CAM pathway Clusia rosea needs 80% less water for biomass production than teak.

Biofuels proponents usually focus their attention on corn or sugar cane as new sources of energy. To produce biofuels without cutting down rainforest or competing with crop plants, one solution is to grow agave, a CAM plant, on marginal land. Joe Holtum, School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Australia will talk about turning agave, usually grown to produce tequila, into alcohol to fuel cars instead of all-night binges.