While to date the accepted belief has been that starch
biosynthesis is produced solely in the chloroplast, biologist
Nora Alonso CasajÃƒÂºs` PhD provides evidence to show that the
greatest part of the precursor molecule in starch biosynthesis -
known as ADPG - accumulates in the cytosol of the plants. This
finding has meant a great advance in the race to obtain
vegetables that can produce large quantities of starch, a
substance the annual production of which is about a thousand
million tonnes and which has become an essential raw material in
multiple sectors of modern industry such as biofuels or
biodegradable plastics. The thesis, entitled, Factors involved
in the regulation of starch and glycogen production in plants
and bacteria was recently defended the Public University of
Navarra`s Institute of Agrobiotechnology. Biosynthesis of starch
According to the classical model for explaining the biosynthesis
of starch, sucrose and starch are final products of two
unidirectional routes that take place in the cyto