Eriogonum diatomaceum grows on diatomaceous clays and has fleshy leaves. maybe CAM? also green stems...
picture from allo_patrick on iNat
Eriogonum fasciculatum has leaf and stem d13C of -26 (Ehleringer et al 1987 Oecologia)
New preprint demonstrating a way to engineer the shorter bundle sheath cells that have been observed in C4 Panicum, Neurachne, and Tribulus
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
Oh and Alternanthera
We lacked kinetic data, but we can at least say that parallel amino acid substitutions are common and that they converge on similar climates and structural characteristics. I think this raises interesting questions about thermal signatures in protein evolution in general! 3/3
I accidentally said bamboo was C4 when i meant sugarcane......
grateful to have this opportunity to give a talk and also to hear about amazing science going on in the department! 🐛🌱🐟
Improved mesophyll–bundle sheath connectivity is achieved via different mechanisms in C2 vs C4 Alternanthera
nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
If this reflects stronger H-bonds, warm-environment RbcL may be more rigid, offsetting temperature-induced conformational flexibility (like animal MDH/LDH). But correlations were weak; rubisco adaptation should also involve the small subunit and chaperones. 2/3
🌡️🌱 Does rubisco adapt to climate via structural shifts? We modelled rubisco stability, and in 3 of 4 lineages, warmer growing seasons correlated with H-bonds contributing more to stability, offset by protein-solvent and van der Waals interactions. #PlantScience 1/3
doi.org/10.1093/evol...
www.pnas.org/doi/full/10....
Rubisco!! 🌱
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung
Arthur Leung from the Sage lab tells us about the facultative induction of an evolutionary precursor to C4 photosynthesis — plants rehearsing before the main event 🤩 #Atwood2026
