Question

What is Amylase? Where is it found? What does it do?

Answer 1

Amylase is an enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis (breaking of a substance by adding a water molecule) of starch into smaller carbohydrate molecules like maltose (a molecule composed of two glucose molecules). The three types of amylases, alpha, beta, and gamma, differ in how they attack the starch molecules' bonds.

Complete answer:
Amylase is a starch hydrolase enzyme that catalyses the conversion of starch to sugars. Amylase is a digestive enzyme found in the saliva of humans and other mammals. It starts the chemical process of digestion.
Amylase is abundant in the pancreas of almost all animals. Many species have amylase in their livers, salivary glands, and small intestinal mucosa; the amount of amylase in these organs varies greatly between species.
Salivary amylase is produced by salivary glands in your mouth, which starts the digestion process by breaking down starch in your food and turning it to maltose, a smaller carbohydrate. When starchy foods like rice or potatoes break down in your tongue, maltose is produced, leaving a slightly sweet flavour. Pancreatic amylase completes carbohydrate digestion, resulting in glucose, a tiny molecule taken into the bloodstream and transported throughout the body.

Note:
In molecular biology, in addition to antibiotic resistance, the presence of amylase can be used to select for effective integration of a reporter construct. Because reporter genes are bordered by homologous sections of the amylase structural gene, successful integration will disrupt the amylase gene and inhibit starch breakdown, which may be shown using iodine staining.