| Citation | Distinguished for pioneering work on the fine structure of starch and glycogen; and on mechanisms of enzymic synthesis and degradation of starch and glycogen. His early discovery of the D-enzyme in plants and its reactions, and his related work with pullulanase to establish the structure of the terminal chains of phi-dextrin and the role of glucosyltransferase reactions in the degradation of glycogen in vivo were of crucial importance. More recently he has made important contributions to glycogen biosynthesis, and especially to the mechanism of de novo synthesis of glycogen. He has demonstrated that glycogen contains a covalently-bound protein (glycogenin) and presented evidence that glycogenin is attached to glycogen through a unique glycosidic linkage involving a tyrosine-hydroxyl. His demonstration that glycogenin is a self-glucosylating enzyme which catalyses addition of further glucosyl units from UDPG (the two reactions needed to form the primer for glycogen biosynthesis) has placed the protein primer hypothesis of Krisman on a firm molecular basis and has implications for the biosynthesis [of] other storage polysaccharides.
His contributions to the promotion of effective communication between biochemists of different nationalities or from separate sub-disciplines through the founding of new organisations (FEBS, PABS), the introduction of novel publications (eg TIBS) and new journals, the organization of meetings and his work as the general secretary of IUB have been second to none. |