Biopolymer Analytics, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, Building 20, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
Biopolymer Analytics, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, Building 20, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
J Plant Physiol. 2021 Mar-Apr;258-259:153389. doi: 10.1016/j.jplph.2021.153389. Epub 2021 Feb 14.
Starch is a natural storage carbohydrate in plants and algae. It consists of two relatively simple homo-biopolymers, amylopectin and amylose, with only α-1,4 and α-1,6 linked glucosyl units. Starch is an essential source of nutrition and animal food, as well as an important raw material for industry. However, despite increasing knowledge, detailed information about its structure and turnover are largely lacking. In the last decades, most data were generated using bulk experiments, a method which obviously presents limitations regarding a deeper understanding of the starch metabolism. Here, we discuss some unavoidable questions arising from the existing data. We focus on a few examples related to starch biosynthesis, degradation, and structure - where these limitations strongly emerge. Closing these knowledge gaps will also be extremely important for taking the necessary steps in order to set up starch-providing crops for the challenges of the ongoing climate changes, as well as for increasing the usability of starches for industrial applications by biotechnology.
淀粉是植物和藻类中天然的储存碳水化合物。它由两种相对简单的同型生物聚合物组成，直链淀粉和支链淀粉，只有α-1,4 和α-1,6 连接的葡萄糖单位。淀粉是营养和动物食品的重要来源，也是工业的重要原料。然而，尽管知识不断增加，但关于其结构和周转的详细信息在很大程度上仍然缺乏。在过去的几十年中，大多数数据都是使用批量实验生成的，这种方法在更深入地了解淀粉代谢方面显然存在局限性。在这里，我们讨论了一些现有数据中不可避免的问题。我们重点介绍了与淀粉生物合成、降解和结构相关的几个例子，这些局限性在这些例子中表现得尤为明显。缩小这些知识差距对于为应对当前气候变化带来的挑战而建立提供淀粉的作物，以及通过生物技术提高淀粉在工业应用中的可用性也将是极其重要的。
