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Johannes Herpell

@herpell.bsky.social

337 followers 226 following 16 posts

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Johannes Herpell @herpell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Putting it together: Whole genome duplication → diploidization → rewiring Depending on environmental pressure: • CAM traits are retained & strengthened • or partially lost 👉 generating a spectrum of CAM physiotypes. 11/14

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Johannes Herpell @herpell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Example: Clusia major looks like a C3 plant… But: • shows weak/background CAM • accumulates more starch at night • runs core CAM machinery at low levels 👉 a “hidden” CAM physiotype. 10/14

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Johannes Herpell @herpell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

And one pathway stood out: 👉 starch metabolism This is the metabolic backbone that fuels CAM with fresh supply of PEP (required for nightly carbon fixation) 9/14

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Johannes Herpell @herpell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Key insight: It’s not about evolving new enzymes. The molecular machinery for CAM is largely there—even in weak CAM / C3-like species. 👉 The difference lies in how the system is regulated and wired. 8/14

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Johannes Herpell @herpell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

So what did we do? We sequenced the genomes across this physiotype spectrum. All are polyploid. All underwent diploidization. This gave us a framework to ask: 👉 how does genome evolution relate to CAM diversity? 7/14

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Johannes Herpell @herpell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Fun historical note: ~200 years ago, Alexander von Humboldt submerged a Clusia (rosea) leaf in water in the light… No bubbles. No gas exchange. He had stumbled onto CAM—without knowing it. 6/14

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Johannes Herpell @herpell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

Enter Clusia: • Clusia rosea → strong CAM (coastal, harsh environments) • Clusia minor → flexible (can switch C3 ↔ CAM) • Clusia major → looks like C3… but isn’t quite Perfect system to study the full range. 5/14

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Johannes Herpell @herpell.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

This question has been bugging us (and the field): How do these different CAM physiotypes arise? What changes when evolution moves along that spectrum? And what would it take to engineer this into crops? 3/14

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