Functional and Structural Characterization of a Novel Isoamylase from Ostreococcus tauri and Role of the N-Terminal Domain

Abstract

Carbohydrates are the most abundant molecules on earth; each year photosynthesis fixes approximately 100 billion tons of CO2 and H2O into cellulose, starch, sucrose and other sugars. Starch is one of the most important sources of energy in the human diet. It is composed of two polymers, amylose (essentially an α-1,4-glucan chain) and amylopectin (similar to amylose but branched with α-1,6 glycosidic bonds) whose combination gives rise to a highly insoluble starch granule [1, 2]. Amylo-