BIOTECHNOLOGICAL MODIFICATION OF CARBOHYDRATES FOR SWEET CORN AND MAIZE IMPROVEMENT

The many mutants of maize affecting starch biosynthesis have been used in the production of specialized com, including sweet com. The advent of molecular biology techniques will expand the types of com used in commerce as the new, in vitro-produced mutations have not been found in nature. Essential to this work is a firm understanding of the path by which sucrose is converted to starch in the maize endosperm. Summarized below is our current understanding of the function of many of the starch synthetic genes based on genetic, molecular, biochemical, and physiological techniques. Emphasized are the unpredicted effects of various sugars and glucose polymers.