Abstract
Starch is a polysaccharide that is stored to be used in different timescales. Transitory starch is used during nighttime when photosynthesis is unavailable. Long-term starch is stored to support vegetative or reproductive growth, reproduction, or stress responses. Starch is not just a reserve of energy for most plants but also has many other roles, such as promoting rapid stomatal opening, making osmoprotectants, cryoprotectants, scavengers of free radicals and signals, and reverting embolised vessels. Biotic and abiotic stress vary according to their nature, strength, duration, developmental stage of the plant, time of the day, and how gradually they develop. The impact of stress on starch metabolism depends on many factors: how the stress impacts the rate of photosynthesis, the affected organs, how the stress impacts carbon allocation, and the energy requirements involved in response to stress. Under abiotic stresses, starch degradation is usually activated, but starch accumulation may also be observed when growth is inhibited more than photosynthesis. Under biotic stresses, starch is usually accumulated, but the molecular mechanisms involved are largely unknown. In this mini-review, we explore what has been learned about starch metabolism and plant stress responses and discuss the current obstacles to fully understanding their interactions.
Highlights
Energy management is vital for plant development, and it is diversely regulated across species depending on life forms and environmental conditions
Studies related to the effects of stress on starch metabolism have faced significant challenges because the response depends on the nature, strength and duration of the stress, how gradually it develops, and plant developmental stage and the time of the day and (Köhl, 2016)
Changes in the plant starch metabolism due to abiotic stress depend on how the stress affects growth, the relative extent of the inhibition of growth and photosynthesis, and whether modifications in C allocation support stress responses
Summary
Energy management is vital for plant development, and it is diversely regulated across species depending on life forms and environmental conditions. Starch acts as a sugar source when photosynthesis is impaired or unavailable, in the nighttime and during seed germination, tuber sprouting, tissue regeneration, Stress Impacts on Starch Metabolism or under stress conditions (MacNeill et al, 2017; Smith and Zeeman, 2020). Stress can affect carbon metabolism by affecting photosynthetic rate, carbon allocation, and night respiration These impacts can reduce plant growth and development depending on the type of stress and affected tissue. Studies related to the effects of stress on starch metabolism have faced significant challenges because the response depends on the nature, strength and duration of the stress, how gradually it develops, and plant developmental stage and the time of the day and (Köhl, 2016). It is clear that other degradation pathways can operate under stress conditions in the light in addition to the daily nocturnal degradation pathway
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