Skip Navigation



Plant and Cell Physiology Advance Access published online on December 13, 2007
Plant and Cell Physiology, doi:10.1093/pcp/pcm172
This Article
Right arrow Advance Access manuscript (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
49/1/103    most recent
pcm172v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Shimonaga, T.
Right arrow Articles by Tsuzuki, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Shimonaga, T.
Right arrow Articles by Tsuzuki, M.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Shimonaga, T.
Right arrow Articles by Tsuzuki, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Variation in Storage {alpha}-Glucans of the Porphyridiales (Rhodophyta)

Takahiro Shimonaga1, Mai Konishi1, Yasunori Oyama1, Shoko Fujiwara1, Aya Satoh2, Naoko Fujita2, Christophe Colleoni3, Alain Buléon4, Jean-Luc Putaux5, Steven G. Ball3, Akiko Yokoyama6, Yoshiaki Hara6, Yasunori Nakamura2 and Mikio Tsuzuki1

1Shool of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392 Japan
2Faculty of Bioresource Sciences, Akita Prefectural University, Akita-City, 010-0195 Japan
3Unité de Glycobiologie Structurale et Fonctionnelle, Unité Mixte de Recherche 8576, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, Institut Fédératif de Recherche, 59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq cedex, France
4Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Centre de Recherches Agroalimentaires, Rue de la Géraudiére, BP71627, 44316 Nantes cedex 3, France
5Centre de Recherches sur les Macromolécules Végétales (CERMAV-CNRS), BP 53, F-38041 Grenoble cedex 9, France
6Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Yamagata University, Yamagata-City, 990-8560 Japan

Corresponding author: Shoko Fujiwara; address, School of Life Sciences, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, 1432-1 Horinouchi, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0392 Japan; E-mail, fujiwara{at}ls.toyaku.ac.jp; Fax, +81-42-676-6721; Tel, +81-42-676-6716.


  Abstract

Storage glucans were analyzed in the Porphyridiales which include the most primitive and phylogenetically-diverged species in the Rhodophyta, to understand early evolution of the glucan structure in the Rhodophyta. The storage glucans of both Galdieria sulphuraria and Cyanidium caldarium consisted of glycogen, while those of Rhodosorus marinus, Porphyridium purpureum, P. sordidum, and Rhodella violacea could be defined as semi-amylopectin. X-ray diffraction analysis of the glucans demonstrated variation in the crystalline structure: the patterns in P. purpureum and R. violacea were of A- and B-types, respectively, while {alpha}-glucans of R. marinus and P. sordidum displayed structures with lower crystallinity. Electron microscopic observations indicated that the {alpha}-glucans of P. sordidum consisted of two kinds of granules; a minor component of more dense granules with crystalline leaflets and a major component of softer ones without crystalline structure. Gel permeation chromatography showed that all the species containing the semi-amylopectin type glucans also contained amylose, although the relative amounts of this fraction were different depending on the species. Our results are consistent with two distinct evolution scenarios defined either by the independent acquisition of semi-crystalline starch-like structures in the different plant lineages or more likely by the loss of starch and reversion to glycogen synthesis in cyanidian algae growing in hot and acid environments.

Keywords: Amylose - Floridean starch - Glycogen - Porphyridiales - Rhodophyta - Semi-amylopectin

(Received November 10, 2007; Accepted December 4, 2007)
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.