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Pfister, Barbara, Zeeman, Samuel C., Rugen, Michael D., Field, Robert A. 
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8574-0275, Ebenhöh, Oliver and Raguin, Adélaïde
(2020)
Theoretical and experimental approaches to understand the biosynthesis of starch granules in a physiological context.
Photosynthesis Research, 145 (1).
pp. 55-70.
ISSN 0166-8595
Abstract
Starch, a plant-derived insoluble carbohydrate composed of glucose polymers, is the principal carbohydrate in our diet and a valuable raw material for industry. The properties of starch depend on the arrangement of glucose units within the constituent polymers. However, key aspects of starch structure and the underlying biosynthetic processes are not well understood, limiting progress towards targeted improvement of our starch crops. In particular, the major component of starch, amylopectin, has a complex three-dimensional, branched architecture. This architecture stems from the combined actions of a multitude of enzymes, each having broad specificities that are difficult to capture experimentally. In this review, we reflect on experimental approaches and limitations to decipher the enzymes’ specificities and explore possibilities for in silico simulations of these activities. We believe that the synergy between experimentation and simulation is needed for the correct interpretation of experimental data and holds the potential to greatly advance our understanding of the overall starch biosynthetic process. We furthermore propose that the formation of glucan secondary structures, concomitant with its synthesis, is a previously overlooked factor that directly affects amylopectin architecture through its impact on enzyme function.
| Item Type: | Article |
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| Additional Information: | Funding Information: Open Access funding provided by Projekt DEAL. This work was performed as part of the ERA-CAPS project “Designing starch: harnessing carbohydrate polymer synthesis in plants”. It was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (AOBJ 619215) to A.R. and O.E. and by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant 31CP30_163503) to S.C.Z. Research at the JIC is supported by the UK BBSRC Institute Strategic Program on Molecules from Nature (MfN) [BB/PO12523/1] and the John Innes Foundation. This study was also funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy EXC 2048/1, Project ID: 390686111. The current position of A.R. is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research of Germany in the framework of CornWall (Project Number 031B0193A). Publisher Copyright: © 2020, The Author(s). |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | amylopectin,biosynthesis,mathematical modeling,starch,biochemistry,plant science,cell biology ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1300/1303 |
| Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Science > School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology |
| Related URLs: | |
| Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Sep 2024 15:30 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Sep 2024 18:05 |
| URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/96435 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s11120-019-00704-y |
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