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Expression of an amylosucrase gene in potato results in larger starch granules with novel properties

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Expression of amylosucrase in potato resulted in larger starch granules with rough surfaces and novel physico-chemical properties, including improved freeze–thaw stability, higher end viscosity, and better enzymatic digestibility.

Starch is a very important carbohydrate in many food and non-food applications. In planta modification of starch by genetic engineering has significant economic and environmental benefits as it makes the chemical or physical post-harvest modification obsolete. An amylosucrase from Neisseria polysaccharea fused to a starch-binding domain (SBD) was introduced in two potato genetic backgrounds to synthesize starch granules with altered composition, and thereby to broaden starch applications. Expression of SBD–amylosucrase fusion protein in the amylose-containing potato resulted in starch granules with a rough surface, a twofold increase in median granule size, and altered physico-chemical properties including improved freeze–thaw stability, higher end viscosity, and better enzymatic digestibility. These effects are possibly a result of the physical interaction between amylosucrase and starch granules. The modified larger starches not only have great benefit to the potato starch industry by reducing losses during starch isolation, but also have an advantage in many food applications such as frozen food due to its extremely high freeze–thaw stability.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partly financed by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran. The authors would like to thank Professor Pierre Monsan (INSA, University of Toulouse, France) for providing the Amylosucrase gene. We are grateful to Mrs. Isolde Pereira and Mr. Dirkjan Huigen for the tissue culture and greenhouse works, respectively. We also wish to thank Dr. Vic Morris and Dr. Mary Parker (the Institute of Food Research, UK) for their help on starch section imaging. We are very thankful to Dr. Bjorn Kloosterman who kindly helped with microarray experiment and Dr. Chris Maliepaard for statistical data analysis.

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Author notes

  1. Xing-Feng Huang

    Present address: Campus Delivery 1173, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

  2. Farhad Nazarian-Firouzabadi

    Present address: Agronomy and Plant Breeding Group, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, P.O. Box 465, Khorramabad, Iran

  3. Jean-Paul Vincken

    Present address: Laboratory of Food Chemistry, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 8129, 6700 EV, Wageningen, The Netherlands

  4. Qin Ji

    Present address: Department of Biology, Huaiyin Teachers College, Huaian, 223300, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wageningen UR - Plant Breeding, Wageningen University and Research Center, P.O. Box 386, 6700 AJ, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Xing-Feng Huang, Farhad Nazarian-Firouzabadi, Jean-Paul Vincken, Qin Ji, Richard G. F. Visser & Luisa M. Trindade

  2. Graduate School Experimental Plant Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Xing-Feng Huang & Farhad Nazarian-Firouzabadi

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  1. Xing-Feng Huang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luisa M. Trindade.

Additional information

In memory of Luc Suurs who unexpectedly passed away on August 2, 2013.

Xing-Feng Huang and Farhad Nazarian-Firouzabadi have contributed equally to this study.

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Huang, XF., Nazarian-Firouzabadi, F., Vincken, JP. et al. Expression of an amylosucrase gene in potato results in larger starch granules with novel properties. Planta 240, 409–421 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-014-2095-1

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