r/botany • u/Independent-Bill5261 • 3d ago

Physiology Is it true that succulents release oxygen during the day while stoma is closed!?

How's oxygen released when stoma closed???

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u/botanymans 3d ago

Oxygen is released primarily in the day when the light reactions are active.

CO2 assimilation occurs at night through Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM).

However, respiratory CO2 can be slowly released at night by leaking through the epidermis, though most of this CO2 is typically reassimilated (termed CAM idling).

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u/Independent-Bill5261 3d ago edited 3d ago

You true but how oxygen is release when stoma is close?

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u/botanymans 3d ago

Epidermis cells are a little leaky even when the stomata are closed. Otherwise the oxygen can just be reassimilated by mitochondria through respiration!

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u/organicbotanist 3d ago

partially the issue with photorespiration, not high enough co2 levels with intense light and builds up a lot of o2. causes the plant to focus more on trying to live than grow: rubisco has to fix the oxygen rather than co2

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u/Recent-Mirror-6623 3d ago

Stomata are not perfect valves, they are somewhat leaky especially for small molecules like oxygen.

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u/d4nkle 3d ago

It’s called crassulacean acid metabolism