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REVIEW
Contents Vol 34(6)

Transporters in starch synthesis

Thomas Martin A B and Frank Ludewig C D
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

B School of Plant Biology, M310 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

C Botanical Institute, University of Cologne, Gyrhofstr. 15, 50 931 Cologne, Germany.

D Corresponding author. Email: frank.ludewig@uni-koeln.de

Functional Plant Biology 34(6) 474-479 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP06280
Submitted: 1 November 2006  Accepted: 12 January 2007   Published: 1 June 2007

Abstract

Starch is synthesised and stored in plastids. In autotrophic tissues, the carbon skeletons and energy required for starch synthesis are directly available from photosynthesis. However, plastids of heterotrophic tissues require the metabolites for starch synthesis to be imported. Depending on plant species and tissue type, import is facilitated by several different plastid inner envelope metabolite transporters. Commonly, glucose-6-phosphate/phosphate translocators and adenylate translocators are used, but in the cereal endosperm, the role is carried out by ADP glucose transporters (Brittle1, BT1). This review predominantly focuses on transporters of the plastid inner envelope membrane. Their roles are discussed within an overview of starch synthesis. We also examine additional functions of these transporters according to our current knowledge.


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