Clusia genomes shed light on the evolution and diversity of crassulacean acid metabolism physiotypes

Hannes M Kramml; Johannes B Herpell; Clara Priemer; Zoe Wessely; Florian Schindler; Andreas Berger; Maximilian Kellner; Stefan Plott; Ágnes Dohovits; Tamara Schmidt; Peter Kerpan; Leila Afjehi-Sadat; Palak Chaturvedi; Arindam Ghatak; Martin Brenner; Iro Pierides; Lena Fragner; Eva M Temsch; Fabio Trevisan; Menriti Ibrahim; Felix Fromwald; Anke Bellaire; Oleg Simakov; Werner Huber; Ulrich Lüttge; Ovidiu Paun; Susann Wicke; Hanna Weiss-Schneeweiss; Gert Bachmann; Wolfram Weckwerth

doi:10.1038/s41467-026-71958-z

Clusia genomes shed light on the evolution and diversity of crassulacean acid metabolism physiotypes

Hannes M Kramml
, Johannes B Herpell
, Clara Priemer
, Zoe Wessely
, Florian Schindler
, Andreas Berger
, Maximilian Kellner
, Stefan Plott
, Ágnes Dohovits
, Tamara Schmidt
, Peter Kerpan
, Leila Afjehi-Sadat
, Palak Chaturvedi
, Arindam Ghatak
, Martin Brenner
, Iro Pierides
, Lena Fragner
, Eva M Temsch
, Fabio Trevisan
, Menriti Ibrahim

Felix Fromwald, Anke Bellaire, Oleg Simakov, Werner Huber, Ulrich Lüttge, Ovidiu Paun, Susann Wicke, Hanna Weiss-Schneeweiss, Gert Bachmann, Wolfram Weckwerth (Corresponding author)

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

More than 200 years ago, Alexander von Humboldt described a tree of the genus Clusia for its ability to perform crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). This drought-adaptive metabolism allows plants to maintain photosynthesis under water limitation by temporally separating CO₂ uptake and fixation. The diversity of CAM physiotypes has fueled a debate about evolutionary constraints and the feasibility of engineering CAM into C₃ crops. The genus Clusia displays an exceptional diversity of photosynthetic physiotypes, yet genome sequences and genomic mechanisms generating this diversity remain unresolved. Here, we sequence and compare the genomes of three Clusia species spanning weak, inducible, and strong CAM. We show that polyploidization followed by transposon-mediated genic diploidization could have shaped CAM-related gene families, particularly those controlling phosphoenol-pyruvate recycling via phosphorolytic leaf starch metabolism. Our results indicate that whole-genome duplication coupled to diploidization might have driven diversification of CAM physiotypes in Clusia, providing a genomic framework for understanding CAM diversity and evolution.

Original language	English
Article number	3937
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	17
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71958-z
Publication status	Published - 5 May 2026

Funding

Funders	Funder number
Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF)	DOC111

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

106023 Molecular biology
106014 Genomics
106031 Plant physiology
106005 Bioinformatics

Keywords

Plant genetics
Photosynthesis
Crassulacean Acid Metabolism
Evolution, Molecular
Phylogeny
Polyploidy
Diploidization
DNA Transposable Elements
Starch metabolism
Clusia
Clusiaceae

Access to Document

10.1038/s41467-026-71958-zLicence: CC BY 4.0

Cite this

Kramml, H. M., Herpell, J. B., Priemer, C., Wessely, Z., Schindler, F., Berger, A., Kellner, M., Plott, S., Dohovits, Á., Schmidt, T., Kerpan, P., Afjehi-Sadat, L., Chaturvedi, P., Ghatak, A., Brenner, M., Pierides, I., Fragner, L., Temsch, E. M., Trevisan, F., ... Weckwerth, W. (2026). Clusia genomes shed light on the evolution and diversity of crassulacean acid metabolism physiotypes. Nature Communications, 17(1), Article 3937. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71958-z

@article{fbf2482849ab41fe812e403f327466af,

title = "Clusia genomes shed light on the evolution and diversity of crassulacean acid metabolism physiotypes",

abstract = "More than 200 years ago, Alexander von Humboldt described a tree of the genus Clusia for its ability to perform crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). This drought-adaptive metabolism allows plants to maintain photosynthesis under water limitation by temporally separating CO₂ uptake and fixation. The diversity of CAM physiotypes has fueled a debate about evolutionary constraints and the feasibility of engineering CAM into C₃ crops. The genus Clusia displays an exceptional diversity of photosynthetic physiotypes, yet genome sequences and genomic mechanisms generating this diversity remain unresolved. Here, we sequence and compare the genomes of three Clusia species spanning weak, inducible, and strong CAM. We show that polyploidization followed by transposon-mediated genic diploidization could have shaped CAM-related gene families, particularly those controlling phosphoenol-pyruvate recycling via phosphorolytic leaf starch metabolism. Our results indicate that whole-genome duplication coupled to diploidization might have driven diversification of CAM physiotypes in Clusia, providing a genomic framework for understanding CAM diversity and evolution.",

keywords = "Plant genetics, Photosynthesis, Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, Evolution, Molecular, Phylogeny, Polyploidy, Diploidization, DNA Transposable Elements, Starch metabolism, Clusia, Clusiaceae",

author = "Kramml, \{Hannes M\} and Herpell, \{Johannes B\} and Clara Priemer and Zoe Wessely and Florian Schindler and Andreas Berger and Maximilian Kellner and Stefan Plott and {\'A}gnes Dohovits and Tamara Schmidt and Peter Kerpan and Leila Afjehi-Sadat and Palak Chaturvedi and Arindam Ghatak and Martin Brenner and Iro Pierides and Lena Fragner and Temsch, \{Eva M\} and Fabio Trevisan and Menriti Ibrahim and Felix Fromwald and Anke Bellaire and Oleg Simakov and Werner Huber and Ulrich L{\"u}ttge and Ovidiu Paun and Susann Wicke and Hanna Weiss-Schneeweiss and Gert Bachmann and Wolfram Weckwerth",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2026. The Author(s).",

year = "2026",

month = may,

day = "5",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-026-71958-z",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP",

number = "1",

}

Kramml, HM, Herpell, JB, Priemer, C, Wessely, Z, Schindler, F, Berger, A, Kellner, M, Plott, S, Dohovits, Á, Schmidt, T, Kerpan, P, Afjehi-Sadat, L , Chaturvedi, P , Ghatak, A , Brenner, M , Pierides, I, Fragner, L, Temsch, EM, Trevisan, F, Ibrahim, M, Fromwald, F, Bellaire, A , Simakov, O , Huber, W, Lüttge, U, Paun, O, Wicke, S, Weiss-Schneeweiss, H , Bachmann, G & Weckwerth, W 2026, 'Clusia genomes shed light on the evolution and diversity of crassulacean acid metabolism physiotypes', Nature Communications, vol. 17, no. 1, 3937. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71958-z

TY - JOUR

T1 - Clusia genomes shed light on the evolution and diversity of crassulacean acid metabolism physiotypes

AU - Kramml, Hannes M

AU - Herpell, Johannes B

AU - Priemer, Clara

AU - Wessely, Zoe

AU - Schindler, Florian

AU - Berger, Andreas

AU - Kellner, Maximilian

AU - Plott, Stefan

AU - Dohovits, Ágnes

AU - Schmidt, Tamara

AU - Kerpan, Peter

AU - Afjehi-Sadat, Leila

AU - Chaturvedi, Palak

AU - Ghatak, Arindam

AU - Brenner, Martin

AU - Pierides, Iro

AU - Fragner, Lena

AU - Temsch, Eva M

AU - Trevisan, Fabio

AU - Ibrahim, Menriti

AU - Fromwald, Felix

AU - Bellaire, Anke

AU - Simakov, Oleg

AU - Huber, Werner

AU - Lüttge, Ulrich

AU - Paun, Ovidiu

AU - Wicke, Susann

AU - Weiss-Schneeweiss, Hanna

AU - Bachmann, Gert

AU - Weckwerth, Wolfram

PY - 2026/5/5

Y1 - 2026/5/5

N2 - More than 200 years ago, Alexander von Humboldt described a tree of the genus Clusia for its ability to perform crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). This drought-adaptive metabolism allows plants to maintain photosynthesis under water limitation by temporally separating CO₂ uptake and fixation. The diversity of CAM physiotypes has fueled a debate about evolutionary constraints and the feasibility of engineering CAM into C₃ crops. The genus Clusia displays an exceptional diversity of photosynthetic physiotypes, yet genome sequences and genomic mechanisms generating this diversity remain unresolved. Here, we sequence and compare the genomes of three Clusia species spanning weak, inducible, and strong CAM. We show that polyploidization followed by transposon-mediated genic diploidization could have shaped CAM-related gene families, particularly those controlling phosphoenol-pyruvate recycling via phosphorolytic leaf starch metabolism. Our results indicate that whole-genome duplication coupled to diploidization might have driven diversification of CAM physiotypes in Clusia, providing a genomic framework for understanding CAM diversity and evolution.

AB - More than 200 years ago, Alexander von Humboldt described a tree of the genus Clusia for its ability to perform crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). This drought-adaptive metabolism allows plants to maintain photosynthesis under water limitation by temporally separating CO₂ uptake and fixation. The diversity of CAM physiotypes has fueled a debate about evolutionary constraints and the feasibility of engineering CAM into C₃ crops. The genus Clusia displays an exceptional diversity of photosynthetic physiotypes, yet genome sequences and genomic mechanisms generating this diversity remain unresolved. Here, we sequence and compare the genomes of three Clusia species spanning weak, inducible, and strong CAM. We show that polyploidization followed by transposon-mediated genic diploidization could have shaped CAM-related gene families, particularly those controlling phosphoenol-pyruvate recycling via phosphorolytic leaf starch metabolism. Our results indicate that whole-genome duplication coupled to diploidization might have driven diversification of CAM physiotypes in Clusia, providing a genomic framework for understanding CAM diversity and evolution.

KW - Plant genetics

KW - Photosynthesis

KW - Crassulacean Acid Metabolism

KW - Evolution, Molecular

KW - Phylogeny

KW - Polyploidy

KW - Diploidization

KW - DNA Transposable Elements

KW - Starch metabolism

KW - Clusia

KW - Clusiaceae

UR - https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.27599406

UR - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19666426

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-026-71958-z

DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-71958-z

M3 - Article

C2 - 42086566

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 17

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 3937

ER -

Clusia genomes shed light on the evolution and diversity of crassulacean acid metabolism physiotypes

Abstract

Funding

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this