Current status on metabolic engineering of starch on sweetpotato = 고구마 전분 대사공학 연구 동향

Abstract

Starch serves not only as an energy source for plants, animals, and humans but also as an environmentally friendly alternative for fossil fuels. Progress in understanding of starch biosynthesis, and the isolation of many genes involved in this process have enabled the genetic modification of crops in a rational manner to produce novel starches with improved functionality. Starch is composed of two glucose polymers, amylose and amylopectin. The amylose and amylopectin ratio in starch affects its physical and physicochemical properties. Alteration in starch structure can be achieved by modifying genes encoding the enzymes responsible for starch biosynthesis and starch hydrolysis. Here, we describe recent findings concerning the starch modification in sweetpotato. Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] ranks seventh in annual production among food crops in the world as an important starch source. To develop transgenic sweetpotato plants with modifying starch composition, we constructed transformation vectors overexpressing granule bound starch synthase I and inhibiting amylopectin synthesis genes such as starch branching enzyme and isoamylase under the control of 35S promoter, respectively. Transformation of sweetpotato (cv. Yulmi) is in progress.