High Temperature Affects the Activity of Enzymes in the Committed Pathway of Starch Synthesis in Developing Wheat Endosperm

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 197 ◽  
Author(s):  
JS Hawker ◽  
CF Jenner

Ears of wheat were exposed for up to 10 days during the grain-filling stage to high temperature (35�C) and activities of five enzymes in the sucrose to starch pathway were compared to those in ears maintained at lower temperature (21�C day/16�C night). Two cultivars of wheat known to differ in their post-anthesis tolerance of high temperature were compared. On a per grain basis, the activity of sucrose synthase and of ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase in ears maintained at 21/16�C throughout did not change greatly between days 16 and 32 after anthesis, whereas UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase and soluble starch synthase activities declined with advancing development. Soluble starch synthase activity in grains of heated ears was decreased within 1 day to about one- half of the value in unheated grains, and 3 days' additional heating did not reduce the activity much further. Insoluble starch synthase activity was not significantly reduced by heating. Compared to soluble starch synthase, ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase activity was more slowly affected and decreased to a lesser extent by heat. Sucrose synthase and UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase activities were either not affected or only slightly reduced; part of this reduction could be due to advanced development at the higher temperature. In recovery experiments ears were heated for brief periods and then returned to 21/16�C for a few days. ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase and soluble starch synthase activities recovered in the cooler conditions but the other two enzymes generally only maintained or lost further activity. From a comparison of the activities of these enzymes with the rate of starch deposition, and by taking into account the effects of heating, it is proposed that the influence of heating on final grain dry weight is attributable to the observed reductions of soluble starch synthase activity.

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Zahedi ◽  
Rajinder Sharma ◽  
Colin F. Jenner

The effects of a sustained period of moderately high temperature were evaluated on the availability of substrate and the activity of starch synthase (ADP-glucose: 1,4-α-D-glucan 4-α-D-glucosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.21) in the developing grains of two wheat Triticum aestivum L. cultivars differing in their tolerance to high temperature. Final grain weight was reduced by 33% in the least sensitive (cv. Kavko) and by 40% in the most sensitive (cv. Lyallpur) cultivar as post-anthesis temperature was raised from 20/15°C (day/night) to 30/25°C. The difference in the response of the two cultivars was mainly due to changes in the rate of grain filling at high temperature. The response of the rate of grain filling at high temperature, and the differential effects on the two cultivars, did not seem to be explained by an effect of temperature on the supply of assimilate (sucrose) or on the availability of the substrate for starch synthesis (ADP-glucose) in the grains. In vitro, but not in vivo, the differential responses of the efficiency (Vmax/Km) of soluble starch synthase in the two cultivars to an increase in temperature were associated with differences in the temperature sensitivity of grain filling. In vivo, the most remarkable difference between the two varieties was in the absolute values of the efficiency of soluble starch synthase, with the most tolerant cultivar having the highest efficiency.


1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 173 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. B. Wallwork ◽  
S. J. Logue ◽  
L. C. MacLeod ◽  
C. F. Jenner

Plants of malting barley variety Schooner were exposed to 5 days of high temperatures (up to 35°C) during mid grain filling under controlled environment conditions. Grains from heat treated plants accumulated c. 30% less starch than grains from control plants (21/16°C; 14 h day). Reduced starch deposition was not limited by assimilate levels in heat treated grains, but high temperature reduced the conversion of sucrose to starch. The reduction in starch synthesis appeared to result from the effects of diminished catalytic activity of a number of enzymes in the committed pathway of starch synthesis, and/or delayed recovery of enzyme activity in the cooler recovery conditions. Reductions of 11–75% in the activity of the enzymes under investigation followed high temperature exposure. In addition, ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase, branching enzyme and granule bound starch synthase showed increased activity during exposure to moderate temperatures (28–32°C), but reduced activity at high temperatures, while soluble starch synthase showed an immediate loss of activity, even at moderate temperatures. Sucrose synthase and UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase showed the greatest reduction in catalytic activity after plants were returned to cooler conditions. Individual enzymes showed variation in the level of recovery under the cooler temperature conditions which followed the heating period.


1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 829 ◽  
Author(s):  
GW Singletary ◽  
R Banisadr ◽  
PL Keeling

Heat stress during maize seed development can interfere with endosperm starch biosynthesis and reduce seed size, an important component of yield. Our objectives were to evaluate the direct influence of temperature during grain filling on kernel growth, carbohydrate accumulation, and corresponding endosperm metabolism. Kernels of maize were grown in vitro at 25�C until 15 or 16 days after pollination and then subjected to various temperatures for the remainder of their development. Mature kernel dry weight declined 45% in a linear fashion between 22 and 36�C. The rate of starch accumulation reached a maximum at approximately 32�C, and when measured at frequent intervals, declined only slightly with further temperature increase to 35�C. Reduced seed size resulted from an abbreviated duration of starch-related metabolism, which did not appear to be limited by endogenous sugars. Instead, a survey of 12 enzymes of sugar and starch metabolism indicated that ADP glucose pyrophosphorylase and soluble starch synthase were unique in displaying developmental peaks of activity which were compressed both in amount and time, similar to the effect of temperature on starch accumulation. We conclude that decreased starch synthesis in heat-stressed maize kernels results from a premature decline in the activity of these enzymes.


1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 791 ◽  
Author(s):  
CF Jenner

As temperature rises above 18-22�C, the observed decrease in the duration of deposition of dry matter in the kernel is not accompanied by a compensating increase in the rate of grain filling with the result that grain weight (and yield) is diminished at high temperature. Reduced starch content accounts for most of the reduction in grain dry matter at high temperature. Responses to temperature in the low temperature range, 20-30�C (the LTR), could possibly be ascribed to the temperature response characteristics of the reaction catalysed by soluble starch synthase (SSS), the enzyme synthesising starch. However, the rate of cell enlargement and the rate of accumulation of nitrogen in the grain also do not increase much as temperature rises, so other explanations are conceivable for the temperature responses in the LTR. Variation amongst cultivars of wheat in tolerance of high temperature is evident in the LTR. At temperatures above 30�C (in the high temperature range (HTR) between 30 and 40�C), even for short periods, the rate of starch deposition is slower than that observed at lower temperatures, an effect which is carried over after transfer from high to lower temperatures. This response is attributable to a reduction in the activity, possibly due to thermal denaturation, of SSS. Several forms of SSS are found in cereal endosperm, and some forms may be more tolerant of high temperature than others. Loss of enzyme activity at high temperature is swift, but is partly restored some time after transfer from hot to cool conditions. There appear to be two distinct mechanisms of response to elevated temperature, both resulting in a reduced grain weight through reduced starch deposition, but one of them is important only in the range of temperature above 30�C.


1996 ◽  
Vol 320 (2) ◽  
pp. 487-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee J. SWEETLOVE ◽  
Michael M. BURRELL ◽  
Tom ap REES

The aim of the work described in this paper was to characterize the tubers of potato (Solanum tuberosum var. Prairie) plants that had been transformed with the Escherichiacoli ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase (EC 2.7.7.27) gene, glgC-16, under the control of a patatin promoter. Over 30 lines of transformed plants with increased ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase activity were obtained. The tubers of six of these lines were compared with those of control plants expressing the gene for β-glucuronidase. The average increase in pyrophosphorylase activity was 200%, and the highest was 400%. Western immunoblotting of tuber extracts showed that the amounts of glgC-16 protein were linearly related to the extractable activity of the ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase. Cell fractionation studies showed that the increased activity of the pyrophosphorylase in the glgC-16 tubers had a similar intracellular location, the amyloplast fraction, to that found in the control tubers. No pleiotropic changes in the maximum catalytic activities of the following enzymes could be detected in the glgC-16 tubers: sucrose synthase, fructokinase, UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase, phosphofructokinase, soluble starch synthase, starch branching enzyme, phosphoglucomutase and alkaline inorganic pyrophosphatase. The glgC-16 tubers are held to be suitable for the study of the role of ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase in the control of starch synthesis.


1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
CF Jenner

Ears of wheat were exposed for up to 7 days during the grain-filling stage to high temperature (35�C day/25�C night) and metabolic responses in the grain were compared to those in ears maintained at lower temperatures (21�C day/16�C night). Two cultivars of wheat known to differ in their post-anthesis tolerance of high temperature were compared. Raising the temperature resulted in a small increase in the rate of dry matter accumulation: both cultivars responded similarly. Sucrose content of the endosperm was either not affected or increased by raising the temperature. Raising the temperature had differential effects on glucose and fructose content: fructose was substantially reduced while glucose was either unaffected or slightly increased. After raising the temperature the concentrations of all three hexose phosphates measured, glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P), glucose-1-phosphate (G-1-P) and fructose-6-phosphate (F-6-P), were reduced similarly on a percentage basis and to about the same extent as fructose. The concentration of the sugar nucleotide (UDP-glucose) resulting from the breakdown of sucrose by sucrose synthase was also reduced at high temperature. Judging from calculated mass-action ratios, all three catalytic steps involved in the interconversion of the metabolites mentioned above were close to equilibrium, and only one mass action ratio (for sucrose synthase) was affected by heating: it was doubled. Although temperature clearly resulted in changes in the reaction catalysed by sucrose synthase, it was not clear how temperature had acted. Concentration of the precursor for starch synthesis (ADP-glucose) was slightly lower in both cultivars at the higher temperature. Taken together the responses could provide at least a partial explanation for the smallness of the increase in starch deposition with increase in temperature, but do not explain the different responses of these two cultivars to high temperature.


1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 783 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Denyer ◽  
CM Hylton ◽  
AM Smith

The decrease in yield which is observed when developing storage organs such as cereal grains or potato tubers are exposed to high temperatures is due to a lower final starch content. The rate of starch synthesis during the development of these storage organs at high temperature, is either reduced or fails to increase sufficiently to compensate for the shorter developmental period. This effect on the rate of starch synthesis does not seem to be due to a reduction in the supply of photosynthate. One of the enzymes in the pathway of starch synthesis, soluble starch synthase, is susceptible to heat inactivation at unusually low temperatures and may also have a low optimum temperature for maximum activity. In some storage organs, the maximum catalytic activity of soluble starch synthase is not very much greater than the rate of starch synthesis. A decrease in the activity of this enzyme is therefore, likely to affect the rate of starch synthesis. Thus, the effect of high temperature on the rate of starch synthesis may be due, at least in part, to the properties of this enzyme. This review discusses the unusual heat-sensitivity of starch synthase in the context ofthe effects of high temperature on starch synthesis in storage organs.


1990 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 431 ◽  
Author(s):  
CY Caley ◽  
CM Duffus ◽  
B Jeffcoat

The mechanism of temperature regulation of endosperm development has been investigated by studying the effects of two temperature regimes on starch deposition and starch synthase activity during grain development in two cultivars of wheat. Most of the starch synthase activity was present throughout development as the granule-bound form using ADPglucose as the principal substrate. That starch synthase may be a rate-limiting enzyme for accumulation of starch, and hence dry weight, is suggested by: (1) rates are proportionately less in the cultivar with the lower final endosperm dry weight; (2) at elevated temperatures when starch content and dry weight are reduced, starch synthase activity falls; (3) the rate of starch deposition calculated to be possible from measured rates of starch synthase activity is close to the observed rate of starch deposition. On the other hand, it was concluded that it is not lack of starch synthase activity that causes termination of starch deposition, since activity is maintained well after starch deposition has ceased. Using the same two wheat cultivars, grown as detached ears in liquid culture, the effects of reduced endosperm water content, induced by the presence of polyethylene glycol in the culture medium, were investigated. Endosperm starch synthase activity was unaffected but ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase activity was greatly reduced, suggesting a possible role in the termination of starch synthesis.


1982 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 509 ◽  
Author(s):  
JS Hawker ◽  
GM Smith

The growth rate of cassava plants (Manihot esculenta cv. MAUS7) decreased with increasing concentrations of NaCl from 0 to 75 mM in nutrient solutions supplied regularly in a porous growth medium in a glasshouse. Tuber weight was reduced to one-half between 30 and 50 mM NaCl and there was some burning of apical leaves at 50 and 75 mM NaCl. By comparison with other plants, this cultivar of cassava can be considered to have medium sensitivity to salinity. Na+ and Cl- concentrations increased in all tissues with increasing concentrations of supplied NaCl, except that Na+ remained low in laminae until the 75 mM treatment. K+ levels decreased in tubers. Starch concentrations remained the same in tubers, and K+ stimulated starch bound ADPglucose starch synthase by 1 .5-fold. Leaves and tubers contained activities of ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase and ADPglucose-starch synthase similar to those found in leaves and storage organs of other starch synthesizing plants. ADPglucose pyrophosphorylase from leaves was stimulated 20-fold by 3-phosphoglyceric acid (3PGA) while the enzyme from tubers was almost completely dependent on 3PGA at pH 8.5. The A0.5 values for 3PGA (the concentration required for one-half maximal activation) for the leaf and tuber enzymes at pH 8.5 were 1.31 mM and 7.41 mM respectively. At pH 7.5 the leaf enzyme was stimulated 26-fold and the tuber enzyme was again almost completely dependent on 3PGA. The A0.5 values at pH 7.5 were 1.17 mM and 3.8 mM, respectively. The I0.5 values for PI (concentrations required to cause 50% inhibition) in the presence of 3PGA were 2 mM, 0.25 mM and 0.04 mM for leaf enzyme at pH 8.5 and tuber enzyme at pH 8.5 and 7.7 respectively. The results support the view that it is not possible to generalize about the magnitude of the control of ADPglucose synthesis in leaves as opposed to non-chlorophyllous tissues.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Zhang ◽  
Heng Xu ◽  
Yingying Jiang ◽  
Heng Zhang ◽  
Shiyu Wang ◽  
...  

Grain quality is one of the key targets to be improved for rice breeders and covers cooking, eating, nutritional, appearance, milling, and sensory properties. Cooking and eating quality are mostly of concern to consumers and mainly determined by starch structure and composition. Although many starch synthesis enzymes have been identified and starch synthesis system has been established for a long time, novel functions of some starch synthesis genes have continually been found, and many important regulatory factors for seed development and grain quality control have recently been identified. Here, we summarize the progress in this field as comprehensively as possible and hopefully reveal some underlying molecular mechanisms controlling eating quality in rice. The regulatory network of amylose content (AC) determination is emphasized, as AC is the most important index for rice eating quality (REQ). Moreover, the regulatory mechanism of REQ, especially AC influenced by high temperature which is concerned as a most harmful environmental factor during grain filling is highlighted in this review.


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