During the U.S. Starch Round Table 2025, Nicolas Szydlowski (CNRS researcher, UGSF – University of Lille, IBSP team) was invited to present his work in the session “Biosynthesis and Bioengineering of Starch”, chaired by Samuel Zeeman (ETH Zurich).
His presentation, titled “Cooperative function of LESV and ISA1 in regulating the early steps of starch synthesis in potato amyloplasts”, highlighted the team’s recent findings on the role of the non-catalytic protein LESV in regulating the early steps of starch biosynthesis in potato amyloplasts.
Through the generation of mutants CRISPR/Cas9 in Solanum tuberosum cv. Désirée, the team demonstrated that LESV controls the number and morphology of starch granules.
This work, carried out as part of Camille Locquet’s CIFRE thesis, co-supervised by Fabrice Wattebled and Nicolas Szydlowski, was conducted in collaboration with Florimond Desprez. It is based on research initiated as part of the project ANR TAPSTAR and the CPER ALIBIOTECH program, which laid the groundwork for studying the initiation and phase transition mechanisms of starch in potatoes.
