KSEF RDE: Defining Starch Dephosphorylation in Algal Energy Storage

Starch is the major energy cache in plants and algae. Starch-storing crops are raised and harvested for their non-transitory, starch-storing organs. These crops are utilized largely as food, but also as first-generation biofuels. In addition to its long-term energy storage role, starch also functions as a dynamic energy pool in many Kingdom Plantae/Archaeplastida members. In Arabidopsis thaliana, starch is synthesized during the day in leaves as a primary product of photosynthesis and is then remobilized the following night to sustain metabolism. Up to half of the photo-assimilated carbon is partitioned into this so-called “transitory starch.” The objective of this proposal is to elucidate the molecular mechanisms governing energy metabolism in algae via control of starch composition and utilization.