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The different effects of starch synthase IIa mutations or variation on endosperm amylose content of barley, wheat and rice are determined by the distribution of starch synthase I and starch branching enzyme IIb between the starch granule and amyloplast stroma

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The distribution of starch synthase I and starch branching enzyme IIb between the starch granule and amyloplast stroma plays an important role in determining endosperm amylose content of cereal grains.

Abstract

Starch synthase IIa (SSIIa) catalyses the polymerisation of intermediate length glucan chains of amylopectin in the endosperm of cereals. Mutations of SSIIa genes in barley and wheat and inactive SSIIa variant in rice induce similar effects on the starch structure and the amylose content, but the severity of the phenotypes is different. This study compared the levels of transcripts and partitioning of proteins of starch synthase I (SSI) and starch branching enzyme IIb (SBEIIb) inside and outside the starch granules in the developing endosperms of these ssIIa mutants and inactive SSIIa variant. Pleiotropic effects on starch granule-bound proteins suggested that the different effects of SSIIa mutations on endosperm amylose content of barley, wheat and rice are determined by the distribution of SSI and SBEIIb between the starch granule and amyloplast stroma in cereals. Regulation of starch synthesis in ssIIa mutants and inactive SSIIa variant may be at post-translational level or the altered amylopectin structure deprives the affinity of SSI and SBEIIb to amylopectin.

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Acknowledgments

Jixun Luo was supported by CSC Chinese Scholarship. This work was supported by CSIRO Food Future National Research Flagship. Hong Wang for analysis of starch synthetic enzymes using protein gels.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Agriculture Flagship, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Jixun Luo, Regina Ahmed, Behjat Kosar-Hashemi, Oscar Larroque, Vito M. Butardo Jr., Greg J. Tanner, Narayana M. Upadhyaya, Stephen A. Jobling, Matthew K. Morell & Zhongyi Li

  2. Research School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Jixun Luo & Anthony Millar

  3. NSW Department of Primary Industries, Tamworth Agricultural Institute, 4 Marsden Park Road, Calala, NSW, 2340, Australia

    Jixun Luo

  4. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Philippines

    Vito M. Butardo Jr. & Matthew K. Morell

  5. CSIRO Agriculture Flagship, QBP, Building 80, Services Rd, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4067, Australia

    Michelle L. Colgrave

  6. Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, College of Biological Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Ian J. Tetlow & Michael J. Emes

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  1. Jixun Luo
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  2. Regina Ahmed
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  3. Behjat Kosar-Hashemi
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  8. Narayana M. Upadhyaya
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  14. Zhongyi Li
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Correspondence to Zhongyi Li.

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Communicated by X. Xia.

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Luo, J., Ahmed, R., Kosar-Hashemi, B. et al. The different effects of starch synthase IIa mutations or variation on endosperm amylose content of barley, wheat and rice are determined by the distribution of starch synthase I and starch branching enzyme IIb between the starch granule and amyloplast stroma. Theor Appl Genet 128, 1407–1419 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-015-2515-z

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