α‐Glucan phosphorylase and its use in carbohydrate engineering

Abstract

Abstract Amylose is expected to be a functional biomaterial for various industries but is not produced on an industrial scale, since the purification of natural amylose from starch is difficult. The authors have recently established a system to produce synthetic amylose from either sucrose or cellobiose using the combined action of α‐glucan phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.1) together with sucrose phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.7) or cellobiose phosphorylase (EC 2.4.1.20). In these combined enzymic systems, α‐glucan phosphorylase is a key enzyme. This paper summarises the authors' work to engineer practical α‐glucan phosphorylase for industrial processes and its use in the enzymatic synthesis of essentially linear amylose and other glucose polymers. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry