Starch mobilization is well understood in cereal endosperms, but both the pathway and the regulation of the process are poorly characterized in other types of plant organs. Arabidopsis leaves offer the opportunity for rapid progress in this area, because of the genomic resources available in this species and the ease with which starch synthesis and degradation can be monitored and manipulated. Progress in understanding three aspects of starch degradation is described: the role of disproportionating enzyme, the importance of phosphorolytic degradation, and new evidence about the involvement of a starch-phosphorylating enzyme in the degradative process. Major areas requiring further research are outlined.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Amylase, Arabidopsis, chloroplast, disproportionating enzyme, malto-oligosaccharide, starch, starch degradation, starch phosphorylase, starch phosphorylation
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Plant biology
Research Field:	Plant physiology
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences
UTAS Author:	Smith, SM (Professor Steven Smith)
ID Code:	101548
Year Published:	2003
Web of Science® Times Cited:	50
Deposited By:	Plant Science
Deposited On:	2015-06-25
Last Modified:	2015-09-21
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