Farrukh Makhamadjonov

Farrukh is part of the Seung lab.

His work surrounds trying to understand how starch granule size is controlled in wheat and its impact on starch digestibility. Starch is a polymer of glucose produced and accumulated as semi-crystalline granules in staple crops like wheat grains, and forms a major calorific component of human diets. The nutritional quality of starch depends on its physicochemical properties, but the control of these properties during starch biosynthesis in wheat is not well understood, along with the implications of starch granule morphology on human health. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, he aims to understand the function of BGC1, a key protein that determines starch granule morphology in wheat, and investigate the impact of granule size and shape on starch digestibility and the gut microbiome. These investigations will help understand how starch granule morphology is controlled in wheat and its impact on human health.