Abstract 1802 A Colorimetric Assay to Determine Substrate Specificity of Beta-Amylases

Starch is the primary form of energy storage for plants. During the day, starch is synthesized, stored, and then broken down in the chloroplast during the night to form usable sugar in the form of maltose. Among the enzymes that catalyze this degradation are β-amylases, which cleave two glucose units from the reducing end of a polyglucan chain, forming β-maltose. The Arabidopsis β-amylase (BAM) gene family is commonly used as a model system to study amylases. β-amylase (BAM) proteins are diverse in both structure and function, and collectively contribute to a number of cellular processes including gene expression and starch metabolism in plants.