Production of small starch granules by expression of a tandem-repeat of a family 20 starch-binding domain (SBD3-SBD5) in an amylose-free potato genetic background

Starch exists typically as semicrystalline granules of varying size. Granule size plays an important role for many industrial starch applications. Microbial non-catalytic starch binding domains (SBD) exhibit an affinity for starch granules on their own. Three different constructs were introduced in the amylose-free potato cultivar (Solanum tuberosum L. cv. amf) to investigate whether it is possible to produce smaller starch granules by an engineered, high-affinity, tandemrepeats of a family 20 starch-binding domain (SBD3, SBD4 and SBD5). A significant reduction in the size of starch granule was achieved in transgenic potato plants. Furthermore, it was shown that the SBDn expression can affect physical processes underlying granule assembly and the poorly understood granule formation. Expression of multiple linked SBDs resulted in amalgamated starch granules that consisted of many smaller granules. No significant alterations were observed with regard to rheological properties of starch granules