Zeins, the storage proteins of maize seed, are encoded by a large multigene family that is regulated developmentally and expressed in a tissue-specific manner during endosperm development. The synthesis of these proteins is affected by mutations, such as opaque-2, that cause a reduction in the accumulation of zein proteins and mRNAs. We used nuclear run-on transcription assays to analyze the ex...

The Freundlich model was evaluated for use to assess the effect of heat on the adsorption capacity of an activated carbon for decolorizing/deodorizing corn zein. Because zein protein and its color/odor components are all adsorbed by activated carbon, a method to monitor their removal was needed. Yellow color is due to xanthophylls; a contributor to off-odor is diferuloylputrescine. The off-odor...

The messenger ribonucleic acid fraction isolated from a protein bodyenriched fraction of developing corn (Zea mays L.) endosperm stimulated the incorporation of radioactive amino acids into at least five polypeptides when added to a wheat germ extract capable of protein synthesis. Of these, the two major polypeptides formed with messenger from freshly frozen corn were identified as precursors t...

Expression of heterologous methionine-rich proteins to increase the overall sulfur amino acid content of soybean seeds has been only marginally successful, presumably due to low accumulation of transgenes in soybeans or due to gene silencing. Proteome rebalancing of seed proteins has been shown to promote the accumulation of foreign proteins. In this study, we have utilized RNAi technology to s...

The protein sequence of a representative of the zeins, the major storage proteins of maize, has been derived from the nucleotide sequence of a zein cDNA clone. This cDNA was sequence both by the Maxam and Gilbert and the M13-dideoxy techniques. The nucleotide sequence encompasses the non-translated 3' terminus of the mRNA, the entire coding sequence specifying both the mature zein protein and a...

This paper presents an experimental study on the static and dynamic mechanical properties of nonwoven based flax fibre reinforced polypropylene composites. The effect of zein modification on flax fibres is also reported. Flax nonwovens were treated with zein coupling agent, which is a protein extracted from corn. Composites were prepared using nonwovens treated with zein solution. The tensile, ...

Cereal storage proteins are major nitrogen sources for humans and livestock. Prolamins are the most abundant storage protein in most cereals. They are deposited into protein bodies (PBs) in seed endosperm. The inner structure and the storage mechanism for prolamin PBs is poorly understood. Maize opaque10 (o10) is a classic opaque endosperm mutant with misshapen PBs. Through positional cloning, ...

This study investigates the prevalence of CG and CNG suppression in single- vs. multicopy DNA regions of the maize genome. The analysis includes the single- and multicopy seed storage proteins (zeins), the miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements (MITEs), and long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons. Zein genes are clustered on specific chromosomal regions, whereas MITEs and LTRs are ...

Lysine is the most limiting essential amino acid for animal nutrition in maize grains. Expression of naturally lysine-rich protein genes can increase the lysine and protein contents in maize seeds. AtMAP18 from Arabidopsis thaliana encoding a microtubule-associated protein with high-lysine content was introduced into the maize genome with the seed-specific promoter F128. The protein and lysine ...

The opaque-2 locus (o2) in maize regulates the expression of many members of the zein multigene family of storage proteins. cDNA clones for a wild-type allele of the (o2) locus (O2) were isolated from a maize endosperm cDNA library and sequenced. We found a 258-nucleotide 5' leader sequence containing three short open reading frames followed by a sequence specifying a protein of 437 amino acids...