ALBERT

Notes: Emulsifying properties of purified pea globulins and of vicilin-legumin mixtures were evaluated through their emulsifying capacity, emulsifying activity index and stability of the resulting emulsions. The results were discussed by reference to the interface adsorption behaviors of these proteins. The influence of the vicilin/legumin ratio on the efficiency of pea isolates as emulsifying agents was also studied. Vi-cilin which has been shown to be more surface active at air/water and dodecane/water interfaces, led also, in both cases, alone or mixed, to better emulsifying properties than legumin. The globulin composition of the isolates did not completely explain their emulsifying behaviors.

Notes: The nutritional and the functional quality of pea (Pisum sativum L.) seed depends primarily on their protein content and composition. For breeding as well as for industrial uses, efficient methods for analyzing protein composition are of great importance. In the present work, a procedure combining fast protein liquid chromatography and statistical analysis was developed for routine determination of protein composition in pea seed. Chromatographic conditions optimized the resolution and repeatability of peak areas and peak retention times sufficiently for statistical analysis. The analytical procedure was a practical compromise between the time of chromatographic separation and the repeatability of the fractionation. The method utilizes the variability among pea cultivars and the repeatability of their chromatographic profiles and can characterize seed protein composition with sufficient precision to distinguish cultivars.

Notes: Summary Translocation between the long arms of chromosomes 11 and 22 is usually detected in offspring with an unbalanced karyotype following a 3:1 disjunction resulting in “partial trisomy.” Since by the end of 1976 it was suspected that this translocation might be more frequent than one would deduce from published reports, it was decided to call for a collaborative effort in Europe to collect unpublished cases. In response, 42 cases were collected in Europe, and one case from New Zealand was added. The following countries were represented with the number of cases indicated in parentheses: Czechoslovakia (2), Denmark (4), Finland (3), France (6), Germany (1), Italy (5), The Netherlands (9), Sweden (6), United Kingdom (4), Yugoslavia (2). The wide geographical distribution indicates a multifocal origin of the translocation. Among the unpublished cases, 31 were ascertained as unbalanced carriers [47,XX or XY,+der(22),t(11;22)] and 12 as balanced balanced carriers [46,XX and XY,t(11;22)]. Among the published cases, 10 were ascertained in unbalanced and 3 in balanced carriers. The breakpoints of the translocations indicated by the contributors varied, the most frequently reported being 11q23;22q11 (25 cases), followed by q25;q13 (10 cases). While the first one seems more likely, it was not possible to decide whether the breakpoints were the same in all cases. All 32 probands with unbalanced karyotypes had inherited the translocation, 31 from the mother and only 1 from the father. This ratio became 43:1 when the published cases were added. A segregation analysis revealed that in families ascertained through probands with unbalanced karyotypes there was a ratio of carriers to normal (all karyotyped) 54:55, not a significant difference. The formal maximum (minimum) recurrence risk for this unbalanced translocation was calculated to be 5.6% (2.7%). When the ascertainment was through a balanced proband, the maximum risk was 2.7%. The risk was calculated as 5.7% for female and 4.3% for male carriers. The mean family size was 1.67 for the offspring of female carriers and 0.78 for the offspring of male carriers. This significant difference suggests that heterozygosity for the translocation reduces fertility in males. Indeed, several of the probands with balanced karyotypes were ascertained because of sub- or infertility. Only 2 de novo translocations were found among the 59 probands, and both, were among the 12 cases ascertained as balanced carriers. The source, quality, and quantity of the clinical data for the subjects with unbalanced karyotypes were variable, and no definite conclusions were possible about phenotypes. The following signs were recorded in 10 or more of the 45 cases: low birth weight, delayed psychomotor development, hypotonia, microcephaly, craniofacial asymmetry, malformed ears with pits and tags, cleft palate, micro-/retrognathia, large beaked nose, strabismus, congenital heart disease, cryptorchidism, and congenital dislocation of the hip joints. Many signs were similar to those considered typical of trisomy 11q, and the phenotype coincided almost completely with the presumptive phenotype of complete trisomy 22. No cases with coloboma was recorded, while other signs of the “cat-eye” syndrome were found in several probands. This might indicate that individuals with the cat-eye syndrome and carriers of the unbalanced 11/22 translocation have the same segment of 22 in triplicate plus or minus another chromosome segment.

Notes: Summary A reciprocal translocation t(5;Y) (p15.3;q11) is detected in an azoospermic male. The meiotic chromosomes, after Q.M. staining, indicate that the two parts of the Y join together, at the pachytene stage, in the sex vesicule, but not at the diakinesis.

Notes: Abstract Bovine serum albumin was chosen as a model protein to study the effect of the functionalization of the ε-NH2 of lysine residues with different carbon chains on the physical properties of proteins. Thus, BSA has been acylated and sulfonylated by means of anhydrides and sulfonyl chlorides, respectively. The secondary structures of modified BSA, studied by far-UV CD, showed very slight changes except after sulfamidation. However, near-UV CD and intrinsic fluorescence spectra revealed important conformational perturbations for proteins bearing long carbon chains. Furthermore, the binding of an apolar probe (ANS) to BSA revealed an improvement of surface hydrophobicity after modification. Meanwhile, Scatchard plot results indicate that only 20% of the hexanoyl carbon chains lie at the surface of the proteins. Solvent conditions should influence the exposure of these chains and consequently the surface hydrophobicity of proteins.

Notes: Acetylation, which acts on the amino groups of proteins, allows to increase the solubility and the emulsifying properties of pea isolate. Acetylation by acetic anhydride was carried out in a torus microreactor in semibatch and continuous conditions. The mixing characteristics, obtained by a residence time distribution (RTD) method, are the same in batch and continuous processes. The maximum acetylation degree reached by the torus reactor is higher than with the stirred reactor. Torus reactors are more efficient than stirred ones as shown by a conversion efficiency, defined by the quantity of modified lysine groups by consumed acetic anhydride. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 53: 409-414, 1997.

Notes: Abstract Because of the difficulties in growing soybean in many parts of the world, other leguminosae crops (fababean, pea, lentil, lupine, bean chickpea, cow pea, etc.) are now being studied as new protein sources. They generally have a high protein content and a satisfactory amino acid composition. The studies which have led to the development of industrial flow sheets for protein extraction have mainly been carried out on pea (Pisum sativum), fababean (Vicia faba), and lupine (Lupinus albus). The processes generally used are (1) pin-milling plus air-classification which when applied to starch-rich legume seeds (pea, fababean), results in concentrates (defined as having protein contents of 60–75%), and (2) wet processes which produce isolates (defined as having protein contents of 90% to 95%). By air-classification, concentrates having 68% and 65% protein can be obtained, respectively, from fababean (31% protein) and pea (21% protein). Isolates, prepared by extraction of the flour proteins with alkaline solution followed by acid precipitation, have a protein content (N × 6.25) generally between 90% and 96% and a protein recovery yield varying between 60% and 65%. As a rule, isolates resulting from ultrafiltered extracts have a higher protein content. From the nutritional evaluation of these two types of products, concentrates and isolates, it appears that wet processes are more efficient for eliminating antinutritional factors. α-galactosides and glycosides are present in isolates only in traces. As for trypsin inhibitors and haemagglutinins, only one third of the activities in the flour remained in the isolates (in dry processes, the residual levels of these antinutritional factors were higher). From the studies of their functional properties, it appears that isolates and concentrates from sources such as fababean and peas, produced by the new processes described, are to some extent complementary or equivalent in their functional properties to those of the soybean, particularly for emulsifying and foaming purposes. These observations should encourage the development of these new processes.