Manipulation of starch granule size distribution in potato tubers by modulation of plastid division
article
Starch granule size is an important parameter for starch applications in industry. Starch granules are formed in amyloplasts, which are, like chloroplasts, derived from proplastids. Division processes and associated machinery are likely to be similar for all plastids. Essential roles for FtsZ proteins in plastid division in land plants have been revealed. FtsZ forms the so-called Z ring which, together with inner and outer plastid division rings, brings about constriction of the plastid. It has been shown that modulation of the expression level of FtsZ may result in altered chloroplast size and number. To test whether FtsZ is also involved in amyloplast division and whether this, in turn, may affect the starch granule size in crop plants, FtsZ protein levels were either reduced or increased in potato. As shown previously in other plant species, decreased StFtsZ1 protein levels in leaves resulted in a decrease in the number of chloroplasts in guard cells. More interestingly, plants with increased StFtsZ1 protein levels in tubers resulted in less, but larger, starch granules. This suggests that the stoichiometry between StFtsZ1 and other components of the plastid division machinery is important for its function. Starch from these tubers also had altered pasting properties and phosphate content. The importance of our results for the starch industry is discussed. © 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Chemicals / CAS: starch, 9005-25-8, 9005-84-9; FtsZ protein, plant; Plant Proteins; Starch, 9005-25-8
Chemicals / CAS: starch, 9005-25-8, 9005-84-9; FtsZ protein, plant; Plant Proteins; Starch, 9005-25-8
Topics
Biomedical ResearchChloroplastFtsZGranule sizePlastid divisionStarchTransgenic potatoFtsZ protein, plantstarchvegetable proteinamino acid sequencearticlechemistrychloroplastgenegenetic transformationgeneticsmetabolismmolecular cloningmolecular geneticsplant tuberplastidpotatopromoter regiontransgenic plantultrastructureAmino Acid SequenceChloroplastsCloning, MolecularGenes, PlantMolecular Sequence DataPlant ProteinsPlant TubersPlants, Genetically ModifiedPlastidsPromoter Regions (Genetics)Solanum tuberosumStarchTransformation, GeneticEmbryophytaSolanum tuberosum
TNO Identifier
239073
ISSN
14677644
Source
Plant Biotechnology Journal, 4(1), pp. 123-134.
Pages
123-134
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