Self-Association and Crystallization of Amylose

Alain Buléon; Gabrielle Véronèse; Jean-Luc Putaux

doi:10.1071/CH07168

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Self-Association and Crystallization of Amylose

Alain Buléon ^A ^D , Gabrielle Véronèse ^B and Jean-Luc Putaux ^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A INRA, Biopolymères, Interactions, Assemblages, BP 71627, F-44316 Nantes Cedex 3, France.

^B UMR5504, UMR792 Ingénierie des Systèmes Biologiques et des Procédés, CNRS, INRA, INSA, F-31400 Toulouse, France.

^C Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales (CERMAV-CNRS), BP 53, F-38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.

^D Corresponding author. Email: buleon@nantes.inra.fr

Alain Buléon completed his Ph.D. in macromolecular chemistry at Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Grenoble in 1977 and a 2-year postdoctoral stay in the Chemistry Department at the University of Montreal in 1979. He is currently working as senior scientist at Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique in Nantes. His research focuses on structure of polysaccharides, especially starch and cellulose, and biosynthesis/structure/properties relationships. In 2003, he received the Alsberg-French-Schoch award from the American Association of Cereal Chemistry for his outstanding contribution to the science of starch.

Gabrielle Potocki-Véronèse's research focuses on rational and combinatorial engineering of glucansucrases for the synthesis of novel molecules including oligosaccharides, a-glucans, and glycoconjugates. She obtained her engineer diploma and Ph.D. in biotechnology from the Institut National des SciencesAppliquées of Toulouse and carried out postdoctoral research in biochemistry and oncology at the French Atomic Energy Commission in Paris. Since 2001 she has been working as a permanent researcher at the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique.

Jean-Luc Putaux carried out his Ph.D. research on the atomic structure of defects in semiconductors at Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique in Grenoble, France. He graduated in 1991 and, after a postdoctoral period studying shape memory alloys at Centre d'Etude et de Chimie Métallurgique, inVitry, he joined the Centre de Recherches sur les MacromoléculesVégétales (part of Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) in Grenoble. Since 1993 he has been studying the morphology and structure of crystalline polysaccharides, using the resources of transmission electron microscopy imaging and diffraction.

Australian Journal of Chemistry 60(10) 706-718 https://doi.org/10.1071/CH07168
Submitted: 22 May 2007 Accepted: 11 July 2007 Published: 9 October 2007

Abstract

Amylose, the linear constituent of starch, consists of α(1,4)-linked glucose monomers. Although weakly involved in the crystalline structure of starch, it can be recrystallized in a variety of allomorphic types, including those encountered in native starch (A- and B-types). Amylose can either be extracted from starch or produced in vitro by enzymatic synthesis using amylosucrase or phosphorylase. Recrystallization and self-association of amylose in aqueous solutions have been widely studied to understand both the crystallization of starch during biosynthesis and the structural changes that occur during starch processing. Depending on the chain length, concentration, and temperature, gels, spherulites, or lamellar crystals can be formed with A or B allomorphic type. Other ligand-dependent allomorphs (the various V-types) are obtained when amylose is complexed with molecules such as alcohols, lipids, or flavours. Amylose also self-associates into networks, spherulites, or axialites during in-vitro enzymatic synthesis by amylosucrase. When a highly branched acceptor like glycogen is used, dendritic nanoparticles are formed by elongation of the external chains. The recrystallization of amylose extracted from starch and the self-association of amylose during its in-vitro synthesis are described. The amylose properties are discussed in terms of polymer behaviour and model systems to investigate the structure and formation of starch granules.

References

Self-Association and Crystallization of Amylose

Abstract

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