Underpinning starch biology with in vitro studies on carbohydrate-active enzymes and biosynthetic glycomaterials

Journal article

Abstract:: Starch makes up more than half of the calories in the human diet and is also a valuable bulk commodity that is used across the food, brewing and distilling, medicines and renewable materials sectors. Despite its importance, our understanding of how plants make starch, and what controls the deposition of this insoluble, polymeric, liquid crystalline material, remains rather limited. Advances are hampered by the challenges inherent in analyzing enzymes that operate across the solid–liquid interface. Glyconanotechnology, in the form of glucan-coated sensor chips and metal nanoparticles, present novel opportunities to address this problem. Herein, we review recent developments aimed at the bottom-up generation and self-assembly of starch-like materials, in order to better understand which enzymes are required for starch granule biogenesis and metabolism.

Files:: 15.09.07_Underpinning starch biology with in vitro studies on ...

(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 3.3MB, Terms of use)

Publisher:: Frontiers Media S.A.
Journal:: Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology More from this journal
Volume:: 3
Publication date:: 2015-09-07
Acceptance date:: 2015-08-24
DOI:: 10.3389/fbioe.2015.00136
EISSN:: 2296-4185

Copyright holder:: Ellis O’Neill and Robert Field
Notes:: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record