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WHAT IS THE MECHANISM OF CAM PLANTS TO OPEN THEIR STOMATA AT NIGHT?
During the night, the CAM plant's stomata are open, allowing CO2 to enter the mesophyll cells and to be incorporated into phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) forming oxaloacetic acid, which is then converted into malic acid that is stored in vacuoles.During the day the stomata are closed (thus preventing water loss) and the carbon in the organic acids is freed from the mesophyll cell's vacuoles and enters the chloroplast's stroma and, thus, into the Calvin cycle.Crassulacean acid metabolism, also known as CAM photosynthesis, is a carbon fixation pathway that evolved in some plants as an adaptation to arid conditions.
Most CAM plants display xerophytic characteristics, including thick, reduced leaves having a low surface-area-to-volume ratio, thick cuticles, and stomata sunken into pits. Common examples of CAM plants include, pineapples and cacti.


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