Defoliation of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) results in a cyclic pattern of starch degradation followed by reaccumulation in taproots. Characterization of changes in anatomical distribution of starch grains in taproots will aid our understanding of biochemical and physiological mechanisms involved in starch metabolism in taproots of this species. Our objectives were to determine the influence of...

The use of pigmented maize varieties has increased due to their high anthocyanins content, but very few studies are reported about the starch properties of these grains. The aim of this work was to isolate the starch granules from pigmented blue maize and carry out the morphological, physicochemical, and biochemical characterization studies. The proximate composition of starch granules showed h...

Male Wistar rats were meal-fed on diets containing various amounts of resistant starch in the form of raw starch (either amylomaize starch, potato starch or modified high-amylose starch) or retrograded starch (prepared from each of the starches) for 6 weeks. Two diets containing normal maize starch were fed as diets poor in resistant starch. Energy absorption (energy consumption minus faecal en...

In higher plants the production of starch is orchestrated by chloroplast-localized biosynthetic enzymes, namely starch synthases, ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, and starch branching and debranching enzymes. Diurnal regulation of these enzymes, as well as starch-degrading enzymes, influences both the levels and composition of starch, and is dependent in some instances upon phosphorylation-linked...

Starch is of fundamental importance for plant development and reproduction and its optimized molecular assembly is potentially necessary for correct starch metabolism. Re-structuring of starch granules in-planta can therefore potentially affect plant metabolism. Modulation of granule micro-structure was achieved by decreasing starch branching and increasing starch-bound phosphate content in the...

It has been well established that a certain amount of ingested starch can escape digestion in the human small intestine and consequently enters the large intestine, where it may serve as a carbon source for bacterial fermentation. Thirty-eight types of human colonic bacteria were screened for their capacity to utilize soluble starch, gelatinized amylopectin maize starch, and high-amylose maize ...

Curdlan was acetylated with a low degree of substitution (DS), and the reaction solution subjected to wet spinning. The curdlan acetate fibres showed changes in crystalline structure wet-to-dry tenacity at DS exceeding 0.8.

A study has been made of the compaction properties of two experimental starches, namely yam starch obtained from Dioscorea rotundata and rice starch obtained from Oryza sativa and the mechanical properties of their tablets, in comparison with those of official corn starch. The influences of the physical and geometric properties of the starch particles on the compression properties of the starch...

Bromodomains are critical components of many chromatin modifying/remodelling proteins and are emerging therapeutic targets, yet how they interact with nucleosomes, rather than acetylated peptides, remains unclear. Using BRDT as a model, we characterized how the BET family of bromodomains interacts with site-specifically acetylated nucleosomes. Here we report that BRDT interacts with nucleosomes...

To investigate the affinity of acetylated wood for organic liquids, Yezo spruce wood specimens were acetylated with acetic anhydride, and their swelling in various liquids were compared to those of untreated specimens. The acetylated wood was rapidly and remarkably swollen in aprotic organic liquids such as benzene and toluene in which the untreated wood was swollen only slightly and/or very sl...