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Comparative genomics of casein genes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2019

Moses Madende  and
Gernot Osthoff
Moses Madende*
Affiliation:
Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein 9301, Republic of South Africa
Gernot Osthoff
Affiliation:
Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology, University of the Free State, PO Box 339, Bloemfontein 9301, Republic of South Africa
*
Author for correspondence: Moses Madende, Email: madendem@ufs.ac.za
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Abstract

This research paper addresses the hypothesis that comparative genomics can give a new insight into the functionality of casein genes with respect to the casein micelle. Comparative genomics is a rapidly emerging field in computational biology whereby two or more genomes are compared in order to obtain a global view on genomes as well as assigning previously unknown functions for genes. Casein genes are among the most rapidly evolving mammalian genes, with the gene products mainly grouped into four types (αs1-, αs2-, β- and κ-casein). Functionally, casein genes are central to the casein micelle, the exact structure of which is still a subject of intense debate. Moreover, and adding to this complexity, some mammals lack some of the casein genes, although casein micelles have been observed in their milk. This observation has prompted an investigation into the distribution of casein genes across a host of mammalian species. It was apparent from this study that casein gene sequences are very diverse from each other and we confirmed that many mammalian species lack one or more of the casein genes. The genes encoding β- and κ-caseins are present in most mammals whereas α-casein encoding genes are less represented. This suggests different mechanisms for casein micelle formation in different species as well as the functions that are assigned to each individual casein.

Keywords

Casein genescasein micellecomparative genomics
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Dairy Research , Volume 86 , Issue 3 , August 2019 , pp. 323 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © Hannah Dairy Research Foundation 2019 

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