{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T07:03:32Z","timestamp":1790838212469,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790812800000},"content-version":"am","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Ephemeral leaflets are produced on emerging daughter cladodes of Opuntia ficus-indica, a constitutive crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) species of major agronomic and ecological importance. Despite their ubiquity across Cactaceae, these transient organs have never been characterized as discrete photosynthetic units. Here we investigate whether leaflets operate via C3 or CAM photosynthesis and quantify their contribution to early cladode carbon (C) economy. Gas-exchange measurements, stomatal aperture analysis, titratable acidity assays, C isotope discrimination (\u03b413C), and 13CO2 pulse-labelling consistently indicate that leaflets operate via the C3 pathway: they exhibit daytime stomatal opening, minimal nocturnal acid accumulation, greater discrimination against 13CO2 (\u03b413C reaching -17\u2030 in mature leaflets compared with -10\u2030 to -11\u2030 in cladodes) and net daytime CO2 uptake at rates approximating 50 % of those in mature cladodes. Carbon-balance calculations indicate that leaflets supply \u223c0.12 g C cladode-1 day-1, meeting approximately 20 % of the daily C demand of the expanding daughter cladode. Experimental leaflet removal and stomatal blockage reduced daughter cladode surface area by 28-34 % and dry weight by \u223c38 % relative to controls at three weeks. These findings reveal an intra-plant co-ordination of C3 and CAM C fixation in spatially distinct organs and identify leaflets as adaptive source organs that accelerate biomass accumulation during pulsed periods of water availability in arid environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/jxb\/erag490","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,30]],"date-time":"2026-09-30T11:56:54Z","timestamp":1790769414000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["C3 photosynthetic activity in ephemeral leaflets of the constitutive CAM species\n                    <i>Opuntia ficus-indica<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.1093","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-4302-1037","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patrick","family":"Mdemba","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Sede Boqer, 84990 \u00a0","place":["Israel"]},{"name":"The Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Sede Boqer, 84990 \u00a0","place":["Israel"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-9555-7978","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Udi","family":"Zurgil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Sede Boqer, 84990 \u00a0","place":["Israel"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7670-6518","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Noemi","family":"Tel-Zur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Sede Boqer, 84990 \u00a0","place":["Israel"]},{"name":"The Goldman Sonnenfeld School of Sustainability and Climate Change, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev ,","place":["Israel"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3455-6093","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sofia","family":"Bouchebti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Sede Boqer, 84990 \u00a0","place":["Israel"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8576-0978","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ilya","family":"Gelfand","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Sede Boqer, 84990 \u00a0","place":["Israel"]},{"name":"The Goldman Sonnenfeld School of Sustainability and Climate Change, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev ,","place":["Israel"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7488-9197","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eran","family":"Raveh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Gilat Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center , 852800 ,","place":["Israel"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"container-title":["Journal of Experimental Botany"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/jxb\/advance-article-pdf\/doi\/10.1093\/jxb\/erag490\/71544821\/erag490.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"am","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/jxb\/advance-article-pdf\/doi\/10.1093\/jxb\/erag490\/71544821\/erag490.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T06:48:12Z","timestamp":1790837292000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/jxb\/advance-article\/doi\/10.1093\/jxb\/erag490\/8857154"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/jxb\/erag490","relation":{},"ISSN":["0022-0957","1460-2431"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0022-0957","type":"print"},{"value":"1460-2431","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]]},"article-number":"erag490"}}