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Updated: Jun 25, 2025

High-throughput Screening of Carbohydrate-degrading Enzymes Using Novel Insoluble Chromogenic Substrate Assay Kits
Published on: September 20, 2016
Structural insights into starch-metabolizing enzymes and their applications
1Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Abstract:
Starch is a polysaccharide produced exclusively through photosynthesis in plants and algae; however, is utilized as an energy source by most organisms, from microorganisms to higher organisms. In mammals and the germinating seeds of plants, starch is metabolized by simple hydrolysis pathways. Moreover, starch metabolic pathways via unique oligosaccharides have been discovered in some bacteria. Each organism has evolved enzymes responsible for starch metabolism that are diverse in their enzymatic properties. This review, focusing on eukaryotic α-glucosidases and bacterial α-glucoside-hydrolyzing enzymes, summarizes the structural aspects of starch-metabolizing enzymes belonging to glycoside hydrolase families 15, 31, and 77 and their application for oligosaccharide production.
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