Recombinant micelle and method of in vivo assembly

Abstract

A method of in vivo assembly of a recombinant micelle including: introducing a plasmid into a plant cell, wherein: the plasmid includes a segment of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) for encoding a ribonucleic acid (RNA) for a protein in a casein micelle, the segment of DNA is transcribed and translated; forming recombinant casein proteins in the plant cell, wherein: the recombinant casein proteins include a κ-casein and at least one of an αS1-casein, an αS2-casein, a β-casein; and assembling in vivo a recombinant micelle within the plant cell, wherein: an outer layer of the recombinant micelle is enriched with the κ-casein, an inner matrix of the recombinant micelle include at least one of the αS1-casein, the αS2-casein, the β-casein.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 - 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . One or more nucleic acid molecules, wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules comprise polynucleotide sequences encoding at least two different types of ruminant casein proteins, wherein the at least two different types of ruminant casein proteins comprise at least x-casein, and wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules are stably integrated into a plant genome. 
     
     
         27 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the at least two ruminant casein proteins are bovine casein proteins. 
     
     
         28 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the plant is at least one of maize, rice, sorghum, cowpea, soybean, cassava, coyam, sesame, peanut, peas, cotton, or yam. 
     
     
         29 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules are in a plant tissue. 
     
     
         30 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein plant tissue is at least one of leave, root, or seed. 
     
     
         31 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules are deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). 
     
     
         32 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules are deoxyribonucleic acid (RNA). 
     
     
         33 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules further comprise a polynucleotide sequence encoding a promoter. 
     
     
         34 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 33 , wherein the promoter comprises at least a portion of cauliflower mosaic virus promoter. 
     
     
         35 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 33 , wherein the promoter comprises at least a portion of a mannopine synthase promoter. 
     
     
         36 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 33 , wherein the promoter comprises at least a portion of tobacco mosaic virus omega leader sequence. 
     
     
         37 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules further comprise a polynucleotide sequence encoding a selectable marker. 
     
     
         38 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 37 , wherein the selectable marker is an herbicide resistance gene. 
     
     
         39 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 37 , wherein the selectable marker is an antibiotic resistance gene. 
     
     
         40 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules comprise polynucleotide sequences encoding κ-casein and αS1-casein. 
     
     
         41 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules comprise one or more polynucleotide sequences encoding κ-casein and αS2-casein. 
     
     
         42 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules comprise one or more polynucleotide sequences encoding κ-casein and β-casein. 
     
     
         43 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules comprise one or more polynucleotide sequences encoding κ-casein, αS1-casein, and β-casein. 
     
     
         44 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules comprise one or more polynucleotide sequences encoding κ-casein, αS2-casein, and β-casein. 
     
     
         45 . The one or more nucleic acid molecules in  claim 26 , wherein the one or more nucleic acid molecules comprise one or more polynucleotide sequences encoding κ-casein, αS1-casein, αS2-casein, and β-casein. 
     
     
         46 . A method of processing casein proteins, comprising
 (a) providing cracked soybeans comprising casein proteins;   (b) removing at least a portion of hulls from the cracked soybeans comprising the casein proteins to produce hulled soybeans;   (c) removing at least a portion of crude oil from the hulled soybeans to produce defatted soy flakes comprising the casein proteins; and   (d) milling the defatted soy flake comprising the casein proteins comprising the casein proteins to produce a mixture comprising the casein proteins.   
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising agitating, filtering, and sonicating the mixture comprising the casein proteins. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising filtering the mixture comprising the casein proteins to produce casein micelles. 
     
     
         49 . The method in  claim 46 , wherein the casein proteins are arranged in a micelle in (a) through (d). 
     
     
         50 . A food composition, comprising casein micelles comprising at least two different types of ruminant casein proteins made from plants.