Dr James Lloyd from the Institute for Plant Biotechnology (IPB) attended the fourth European Starch Round Table, dedicated to starch biology and technology, in Lille, France, during November 2016. This meeting brought together individuals from academia and the industry to exchange knowledge and new ideas in the field of starch research, development and sales. Starch has very versatile applications, and topics such as starch biosynthesis, structure, functionality and modification were high on the agenda.

Dr Lloyd delivered the keynote address, titled Manipulation of polyglucan bound phosphate in plants and bacteria: New pathways and improved industrial starches. He has been active in the field of starch research since 1995 and has published numerous articles in international peer-reviewed journals on this topic, examining how starch is synthesised and broken down. In his talk, he described work done at the IPB by Dr Ebrahim Samodien, a former PhD student of his, who has produced plants that synthesise starch with increased covalently bound phosphate; the starch from these plants can be used more efficiently by industry, as it does not have to be chemically modified before use.

Attendance at the conference held at the University of Lille