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Variation in Storage α-Polyglucans of Red Algae: Amylose and Semi-Amylopectin Types in Porphyridium and Glycogen Type in Cyanidium

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Abstract

Red algae are widely known to produce floridean starch but it remains unclear whether the molecular structure of this algal polyglucan is distinct from that of the starch synthesized by vascular plants and green algae. The present study shows that the unicellular species Porphyridium purpureum R-1 (order Porphyridiales, class Bangiophyceae) produces both amylopectin-type and amylose-type α-polyglucans. In contrast, Cyanidium caldarium (order Porphyridiales, class Bangiophyceae) synthesizes glycogen-type polyglucan, but not amylose. Detailed analysis of α-1,4-chain length distribution of P. purpureum polyglucan suggests that the branched polyglucan has a less ordered structure, referred to as semi-amylopectin, as compared with amylopectin of rice endosperm having a tandem-cluster structure. The P. purpureum linear amylose-type polyglucan, which has a λmax of 630 nm typical of amylose-iodine complex and is resistant to Pseudomonas isoamylase digestion, accounts for less than 10% of the total polyglucans. We produced and isolated a cDNA encoding a granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS)-type protein of P. purpureum, which is probably the approximately 60-kDa protein bound tightly to the starch granules, resembling the amylose-synthesizing GBSS protein of green plants. The present investigation indicates that the class Bangiophyceae includes species producing both semi-amylopectin and amylose, and species producing glycogen alone.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. Y. Oyama and Mr. J. Takahashi for their helpful comments and support during this study. This research was supported by Grants-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan (13640657, 13740463 and 13874112), and by a grant from the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Horinouchi, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392, Japan

    Takahiro Shimonaga, Shoko Fujiwara, Miki Kaneko, Asako Izumo, Satoko Nihei & Mikio Tsuzuki

  2. Faculty of Bioresource Sciences, Akita Prefectural University, Shimoshinjo-Nakano, Akita, 010-0195, Japan

    Aya Satoh, Naoko Fujita & Yasunori Nakamura

  3. CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan

    Shoko Fujiwara, Perigio B. Francisco Jr., Aya Satoh, Naoko Fujita, Yasunori Nakamura & Mikio Tsuzuki

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  1. Takahiro Shimonaga
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  2. Shoko Fujiwara
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Correspondence to Shoko Fujiwara.

Additional information

Nucleotide sequence data are available in the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under the accession number AB274917.

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Shimonaga, T., Fujiwara, S., Kaneko, M. et al. Variation in Storage α-Polyglucans of Red Algae: Amylose and Semi-Amylopectin Types in Porphyridium and Glycogen Type in Cyanidium . Mar Biotechnol 9, 192–202 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-006-6104-7

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