Cholesterol-Lowering Properties of Whole Cowpea Seed and Its Protein Isolate in Hamsters

Hypercholesterolemic hamsters were fed for 4 wk on diets rich in saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, differing only in protein source (20%): casein (control group, HC), whole cowpea seed (HWS), and cowpea protein isolate (HPI). Hamsters fed on HWS and HPI presented significant reductions in plasma total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol. HPI and HC presented similar protein digestibility, which were significantly higher than that of HWS. Animals fed on HWS presented significantly higher levels of bile acids and cholesterol in feces than did the animals fed on casein or HPI diets. Histological analyses of the liver showed that HC diet resulted in steatosis widely distributed throughout the hepatic lobule, while HWS and HPI diets promoted reductions in liver steatosis. The effectiveness of HWS for modulating lipid metabolism was greater than that of HPI, as measured by plasma cholesterol reduction and liver steatosis.

Endogenous abscisic acid and protein contents during seed development of Araucaria angustifolia

This paper describes a proteome analysis and changes in endogenous abscisic acid (ABA) contents during seed development of Araucaria angustifolia (Bert.) O. Ktze. Megagametophytes and embryonic axis tissues exhibited a similar ABA variation pattern during seed development, reaching maximum values at the pre-cotyledonary stage. The embryonic axis protein content increased until the cotyledonary stage with following stabilization at mature seed. The two-dimensional electrophoresis at the torpedo developmental stage showed approximately 230 polypeptides against 340 in the mature stage. Peptide mass fingerprinting analyses identified three polypeptides, corresponding to an AtSAC4, a late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) and a storage protein, respectively.

Sequence-specific reconstruction from fragmentary databases using seed sequences: implementation and validation on SAGE, proteome and generic sequencing data

Motivation: DNA assembly programs classically perform an all-against-all comparison of reads to identify overlaps, followed by a multiple sequence alignment and generation of a consensus sequence. If the aim is to assemble a particular segment, instead of a whole genome or transcriptome, a target-specific assembly is a more sensible approach. GenSeed is a Perl program that implements a seed-driven recursive assembly consisting of cycles comprising a similarity search, read selection and assembly. The iterative process results in a progressive extension of the original seed sequence. GenSeed was tested and validated on many applications, including the reconstruction of nuclear genes or segments, full-length transcripts, and extrachromosomal genomes. The robustness of the method was confirmed through the use of a variety of DNA and protein seeds, including short sequences derived from SAGE and proteome projects.

Identification of non-zein proteins in BR473 maize protein bodies by LC-nanoESI-MS/MS

The nutritional value of maize seed is limited due to its high content of storage proteins (zeins), which are deficient in essential amino acids such as lysine and tryptophan. In a previous paper, we showed that protein bodies obtained from BR473 maize variety, developed by Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), were mainly constituted by Z27 and a smaller quantity of Z50 gamma-zeins. Besides zein proteins, other not identified protein band in the SDS/PAGE was also observed, which could indicate the presence of non-zein proteins additionally to gamma-zeins. In the present paper, we have demonstrated the presence of non-zein proteins in BR473 maize protein bodies by LC-nanoESI-MS/MS and database searching. This fact could be related to the excellent energetic value and higher protein quality of BR473 maize grains, since high lysine concentration in some maize varieties has been related to the presence of cytoskeleton proteins that are non-zeins. We have identified the following proteins: Brittle-1 protein (chloroplast precursor), Legumin-1, glyceroldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, and elongation factor 1-alpha.