Abstract
We determined the effects of biochar on starch properties and the activities of enzymes and expression levels of genes related to starch in two Japonica rice cultivars. The two rice varieties were subjected to five biochar treatments (0, control; and 5, 10, 20, and 40 t/hm2). In both rice varieties, the content of apparent amylose and resistant starch were lower in biochar treatments than in the control. The proportion of fa chains was higher and that of fb3 chain was lower in the biochar treatments than in the control. Starch viscosity and cooking taste quality were improved by the biochar treatments. In both rice varieties, the activity of granule-bound starch synthase was significantly decreased by biochar treatments, and the activities of soluble starch synthase, starch branching enzyme, and starch debranching enzyme were significantly increased. The transcript levels of genes encoding starch synthases and starch branching enzymes were significantly increased by biochar treatments. We conclude that biochar at a dose of 5–10 t/hm2 can regulate the activity of starch-related enzymes, and this affects the type, content, and fine structure of starch. Therefore, the addition of biochar to soil can improve the viscosity and taste quality of rice starch.
Highlights
We determined the effects of biochar on starch properties and the activities of enzymes and expression levels of genes related to starch in two Japonica rice cultivars
Rice starch is formed in the chloroplast as a product of photosynthesis, and is decomposed into dihydroxy-phosphate, which is transported from the chloroplast to the matrix where it is transformed into sucrose via the activities of sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), sucrose synthase (SuSy), and acid invertase (AI)
Previous studies have shown that the expression levels of genes encoding products related to starch synthesis and metabolism are regulated by environmental factors and cultivation conditions, and that changes in the composition of amylose and amylopectin affect the cooking and taste qualities of r ice[10,11]
Summary
We determined the effects of biochar on starch properties and the activities of enzymes and expression levels of genes related to starch in two Japonica rice cultivars. Previous studies have shown that the expression levels of genes encoding products related to starch synthesis and metabolism are regulated by environmental factors and cultivation conditions, and that changes in the composition of amylose and amylopectin affect the cooking and taste qualities of r ice[10,11] In this experiment, two Japonica rice varieties, SN265 and Japanese Akihikari were used to study the effects of adding biochar to soil at different concentrations on the activities of key enzymes involved in sucrose metabolism in seeds and on the relationship between starch quality and the transcript levels of starch-related genes (SS I, SS IIa, SS IIIa, SBE I, SBE IIb, ISA I and GBSS I). The overall aim of this research was to explore the molecular mechanism by which biochar affects the properties of rice starch
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