TY - JOUR A1 - Malinova, Irina A1 - Qasim, Hadeel M. A1 - Brust, Henrike A1 - Fettke, Jörg T1 - Parameters of Starch Granule Genesis in Chloroplasts of Arabidopsis thaliana JF - Frontiers in Plant Science N2 - Starch is the primary storage carbohydrate in most photosynthetic organisms and allows the accumulation of carbon and energy in form of an insoluble and semi-crystalline particle. In the last decades large progress, especially in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, was made in understanding the structure and metabolism of starch and its conjunction. The process underlying the initiation of starch granules remains obscure, although this is a fundamental process and seems to be strongly regulated, as in Arabidopsis leaves the starch granule number per chloroplast is fixed with 5-7. Several single, double, and triple mutants were reported in the last years that showed massively alterations in the starch granule number per chloroplast and allowed further insights in this important process. This mini review provides an overview of the current knowledge of processes involved in the initiation and formation of starch granules. We discuss the central role of starch synthase 4 and further proteins for starch genesis and affecting metabolic factors. KW - starch biosynthesis KW - starch granule biogenesis KW - starch synthase KW - plastidial phosphorylase KW - maltooligosaccharides Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.00761 SN - 1664-462X VL - 9 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Frontiers Media CY - Lausanne ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fettke, Jörg A1 - Leifels, Lydia A1 - Brust, Henrike A1 - Herbst, Karoline A1 - Steup, Martin T1 - Two carbon fluxes to reserve starch in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tuber cells are closely interconnected but differently modulated by temperature JF - Journal of experimental botany N2 - Parenchyma cells from tubers of Solanum tuberosum L. convert several externally supplied sugars to starch but the rates vary largely. Conversion of glucose 1-phosphate to starch is exceptionally efficient. In this communication, tuber slices were incubated with either of four solutions containing equimolar [U-C-14]glucose 1-phosphate, [U-C-14]sucrose, [U-C-14]glucose 1-phosphate plus unlabelled equimolar sucrose or [U-C-14]sucrose plus unlabelled equimolar glucose 1-phosphate. C-14-incorporation into starch was monitored. In slices from freshly harvested tubers each unlabelled compound strongly enhanced C-14 incorporation into starch indicating closely interacting paths of starch biosynthesis. However, enhancement disappeared when the tubers were stored. The two paths (and, consequently, the mutual enhancement effect) differ in temperature dependence. At lower temperatures, the glucose 1-phosphate-dependent path is functional, reaching maximal activity at approximately 20 degrees C but the flux of the sucrose-dependent route strongly increases above 20 degrees C. Results are confirmed by in vitro experiments using [U-C-14]glucose 1-phosphate or adenosine-[U-C-14]glucose and by quantitative zymograms of starch synthase or phosphorylase activity. In mutants almost completely lacking the plastidial phosphorylase isozyme(s), the glucose 1-phosphate-dependent path is largely impeded. Irrespective of the size of the granules, glucose 1-phosphate-dependent incorporation per granule surface area is essentially equal. Furthermore, within the granules no preference of distinct glucosyl acceptor sites was detectable. Thus, the path is integrated into the entire granule biosynthesis. In vitro C-14-incorporation into starch granules mediated by the recombinant plastidial phosphorylase isozyme clearly differed from the in situ results. Taken together, the data clearly demonstrate that two closely but flexibly interacting general paths of starch biosynthesis are functional in potato tuber cells. KW - glucose 1-phosphate KW - phosphorylase KW - potato tubers KW - starch KW - starch synthase Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ers014 SN - 0022-0957 VL - 63 IS - 8 SP - 3011 EP - 3029 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER -