Robert Gilbert (chemist) - Enzymatic Processes in Starch Biosynthesis

Enzymatic Processes in Starch Biosynthesis

In recent research that builds on his work in polymerisation, Gilbert has developed a new way of understanding the biochemistry of the enzymatic processes involved in starch biosynthesis, in collaboration with Dr Melissa Fitzgerald, International Rice Research Institute, Manilla. In this new field, he applied the methods he had developed for understanding molecular-weight distributions in synthetic polymers to understanding those of natural ones. He has thus created a powerful new technique for probing the enzymatic processes in starch biosynthesis in grains, again, creating a methodology to obtain reliable mechanistic knowledge by isolating steps in highly complex systems. Each enzymatic step that creates individual chains—analysed by debranching the starch—can now be associated with particular regions in the molecular-weight distribution of a starch. This supported the applicability of one of two rival mechanistic postulates made by starch biochemists. He has also recently developed a major innovation for solving the vexed problem of quantitatively interpreting data for branched systems.