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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Vasilios Andriotis
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
During germination and early seedling growth of barley (Hordeumvulgare), maltase isresponsible for the conversion ofmaltose produced by starch degradation in the endospermto glucose for seedling growth. Despite the potential relevance of this enzyme for malting andthe production of alcoholic beverages, neither the nature nor the role of maltase is fully understood.Although only one gene encodingmaltase has been identified with certainty, there isevidence for the existence of other genes and for multiple forms of the enzyme. It has beenproposed that maltase may be involved directly in starch granule degradation as well as inmaltose hydrolysis. The aim of our work was to discover the nature ofmaltase in barley endosperm.We used ion exchange chromatography to fractionate maltase activity from endospermof young seedlings, and we partially purified activity for protein identification.Wecompared maltase activity in wild-type barley and transgenic lines with reduced expression ofthe previously-characterisedmaltase gene Agl97, and we used genomic and transcriptomicinformation to search for furthermaltase genes. We show that all of the maltase activity in thebarley endospermcan be accounted for by a single gene, Agl97. Multiple forms of theenzyme most likely arise fromproteolysis and other post-translational modifications.
Author(s): Andriotis VM, Saalbach G, Waugh R, Field RA, Smith AM
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: PLoS ONE
Year: 2016
Volume: 11
Issue: 3
Online publication date: 24/03/2016
Acceptance date: 02/03/2016
Date deposited: 06/02/2018
ISSN (electronic): 1932-6203
Publisher: Public Library of Science
URL: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0151642
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151642
PubMed id: 27011041
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