Vanilla Planifolia - Plan Physiology and Growth

Vanilla Planifolia - Plan Physiology and Growth


There are different types of photosynthesis; C3, C4 and CAM photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is all about the sun, and capturing that light energy from the sun. And when this happens we have a problem, because CO2 is noticed for photosynthesis and that gets in the stomata through the leaves. And when the stomata go open for the CO2 to go in, we often have a loss of water through transpiration. So, there are adaptations in the chemical reactions that occur.

So, first the C3 photosynthesis. It is called this way because; the first compound they form is a 3-carbon molecule.
The problem with C3 photosynthesis is that the plant takes up CO2 but is losing quite a lot of it. This all is because of this enzyme that also reacts with O2. This problem does not matter in mild conditions, where the stomata can stay open day in and out because water loss is then probably not a big issue.

C4 plants on the other side are trapping CO2 a lot easier, and the stomata do not need to be open for such a long period. The reason for that is that they do not react with O2 like the C3 plant. Examples are: maize and sugar cane. One small disadvantage is that they use a little more energy, but that is already better when it is hot.

Now the CAM plants, plants such as cactuses, pineapples, desert plants and my own vanilla Planifolia plant. The CAM plant works at its best in hot conditions but particularly in dry conditions. The stomata only opens at night, during daytime it is too hot and loses too much water. So, the process goes like this; at night the stomata is open --> it takes up a lot of CO2 --> this is turned into a 4 carbon molecule and is stored.
then during daytime, the stomata closes --> the stored 4 carbon molecules are used for the photosynthesis here you use it in the same way as C3 plants.

Vanilla is, as I already mentioned in one of my previous posts, a perennial plant, it keeps on going, it lives for 3 or more years, so it does not have a life cycle of just one year.

Climate change is a big issue for the future of our planet. The vanilla production is also evolved in a bad way due to climate change. The situation in Madagascar is particularly worrying since the country provides more than 2/3 of the global volume. Besides hurricanes, by which Madagascar is hit often, they are also affected by unusually long rains which disadvantage the sufficient flowering for the harvest of for example 2015, it was almost halved. A solution for it, I don’t know it yet, but that’s an interesting topic for next time! 

References

Products, A. (2016, February 16). Vanilla and Climate Change. Retrieved from http://www.vanille.com/authenticproducts/en/vanilla-and-climate-change/
Seddon, S. (2013, March 14). C3 C4 CAM Photosynethesis. Retrieved from Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg_pdXzWXVA

West-Eberhard, M. J., Smith, J. A. C., & Winter, K. (2011). Photosynthesis, reorganized. Science, 332(6027), 311-312.

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