@phdthesis{Junker2004,
  author    = {Junker, Bj{\"o}rn H.},
  title     = {Sucrose breakdown in the potato tuber},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-0001673},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2004},
  abstract  = {In dieser Arbeit wurden verschiedene Ans{\"a}tze verfolgt, um das Verst{\"a}ndnis des Saccharose-zu-St{\"a}rke Stoffwechselweges in sich entwickelnden Kartoffelknollen zu untersuchen. Zun{\"a}chst wurde ein induzierbares Genexpressions-System aus dem Schimmelpilz Aspergillus nidulans f{\"u}r die Untersuchung des Metabolismus von Kartoffelknollen optimiert. Es wurde herausgefunden, dass dieses sogenannte alc system schneller auf Acetaldehyd reagiert als auf Ethanol, und dass Acetaldehyd weniger Seiteneffekte auf den Metabolismus hat. Die optimalen Induktionsbedingungen wurden dann benutzt um die Effekte einer zeitlich kontrollierten zytosolischen Expression einer Hefe-Invertase auf den Metabolismus der Kartoffelknolle zu untersuchen. Die beobachteten Unterschiede zwischen induzierter und konstitutiver Expression der Invertase f{\"u}hrten zu der Feststellung, dass die Glycolyse erst induziert wird nachdem ein ATP-Mangel durch erh{\"o}htes Saccharose-Cycling kreiert wurde. Weiterhin lassen die Ergebnisse darauf schließen, dass Maltose in der Kartoffelknolle eher ein Produkt der Kondensation zweier Glucose-Einheiten ist statt ein Produkt des St{\"a}rke-Abbaus zu sein. Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wurde gezeigt, dass die Expression einer Hefe-Invertase in der Vakuole von Kartoffelknollen {\"a}hnliche Effekte auf deren Metabolismus hat wie die Expression des gleichen Enzymes im Apoplasten. Diese Beobachtung ist ein weiterer Beleg f{\"u}r die Pr{\"a}senz eines Mechanismus, bei dem Saccharose mittels Endozytose in die Vakuole aufgenommen wird anstatt {\"u}ber Transporter direkt ins Zytosol aufgenommen zu werden. Zum Schluß wird ein kinetisches Modell des Saccharose-Abbaus vorgestellt, das in der Lage ist diesen Teil des Stoffwechsels der Kartoffelknolle quantitativ zu simulieren. Weiterhin kann dieses Modell die metabolischen Effekte der Einf{\"u}hrung einer Hefe-Invertase in das Zytosol von Kartoffelknollen mit erstaunlicher Pr{\"a}zision vorhersagen. Zusammengefasst zeigen die Ergebnisse dieser Arbeit, dass induzierbare Genexpression sowie Computermodelle von Stoffwechselwegen n{\"u}tzliche Hilfsmittel f{\"u}r eine Verbesserung des Verst{\"a}ndnisses des Pflanzenmetabolismus sind.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Gramma2023,
  author    = {Gramma, Vladislav},
  title     = {Potato FLC-like and SVP-like proteins jointly control growth and distinct developmental processes},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {x, 138},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Based on worldwide consumption, Solanum tuberosum L. (potato) is the most important non-grain food crop. Potato has two ways of stable propagation: sexually via flowering and vegetatively via tuberization. Remarkably, these two developmental processes are controlled by similar molecular regulators and mechanisms. Given that FLC and SVP genes act as key flowering regulators in the model species Arabidopsis and in various other crop species, this study aimed at identifying FLC and SVP homologs in potato and investigating their roles in the regulation of plant development, with a particular focus on flowering and tuberization. Our analysis demonstrated that there are five FLC-like and three SVP like proteins encoded in the potato genome. The expression profiles of StFLCs and StSVPs throughout potato development and the detected interactions between their proteins indicate tissue specificity of the individual genes and distinct roles of a variety of putative protein complexes. In particular, we discovered that StFLC-D, as well as StFLC-B, StSVP-A, and StSVP-B play a complex role in the regulation of flowering time, as not only increased but also decreased levels of their transcripts promote earlier flowering. Most importantly, StFLC-D has a marked impact on tuberization under non-inductive conditions and susceptibility to temperature-induced tuber malformation, also known as second growth. Plants with decreased levels of StFLC-D demonstrated a strong ability to produce tubers under long days and appeared to be insensitive to temperature-induced second growth. Lastly, our data also suggests that StFLCs and StSVPs may be involved in the nitrogen-dependent regulation of potato development. Taken together, this study highlights the functional importance of StFLC and StSVP genes in the regulation of distinct developmental processes in potato.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{FloresCastellanos2023,
  author    = {Flores Castellanos, Junio},
  title     = {Potato tuber (Solanum tuberosum L. cv Desiree) — characterization of starch interacting proteins and maltodextrin metabolism},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-61505},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-615055},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {XV, 69},
  year      = {2023},
  abstract  = {Starch is a biopolymer for which, despite its simple composition, understanding the precise mechanism behind its formation and regulation has been challenging. Several approaches and bioanalytical tools can be used to expand the knowledge on the different parts involved in the starch metabolism. In this sense, a comprehensive analysis targeting two of the main groups of molecules involved in this process: proteins, as effectors/regulators of the starch metabolism, and maltodextrins as starch components and degradation products, was conducted in this research work using potato plants (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. Desiree) as model of study. On one side, proteins physically interacting to potato starch were isolated and analyzed through mass spectrometry and western blot for their identification. Alternatively, starch interacting proteins were explored in potato tubers from transgenic plants having antisense inhibition of starch-related enzymes and on tubers stored under variable environmental conditions. Most of the proteins recovered from the starch granules corresponded to previously described proteins having a specific role in the starch metabolic pathway. Another set of proteins could be grouped as protease inhibitors, which were found weakly interacting to starch. Variations in the protein profile obtained after electrophoresis separation became clear when tubers were stored under different temperatures, indicating a differential expression of proteins in response to changing environmental conditions. On the other side, since maltodextrin metabolism is thought to be involved in both starch initiation and degradation, soluble maltooligosaccharide content in potato tubers was analyzed in this work under diverse experimental variables. For this, tuber disc samples from wild type and transgenic lines strongly repressing either the plastidial or cytosolic form of the -glucan phosphorylase and phosphoglucomutase were incubated with glucose, glucose-6-phosphate, and glucose-1-phosphate solutions to evaluate the influence of such enzymes on the conversion of the carbon sources into soluble maltodextrins, in comparison to wild-type samples. Relative maltodextrin amounts analyzed through capillary electrophoresis equipped with laser-induced fluorescence (CE-LIF) revealed that tuber discs could immediately uptake glucose-1-phosphate and use it to produce maltooligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization of up to 30 (DP30), in contrast to transgenic tubers with strong repression of the plastidial glucan phosphorylase. The results obtained from the maltodextrin analysis support previous indications that a specific transporter for glucose-1-phosphate may exist in both the plant cells and the plastidial membranes, thereby allowing a glucose-6-phosphate independent transport. Furthermore, it confirms that the plastidial glucan phosphorylase is responsible for producing longer maltooligosaccharides in the plastids by catalyzing a glucan polymerization reaction when glucose-1-phosphate is available. All these findings contribute to a better understanding of the role of the plastidial glucan phosphorylase as a key enzyme directly involved in the synthesis and degradation of glucans and their implication on starch metabolism.},
  language  = {en}
}