Interspecies comparison of milk proteins: Quantitative variability and molecular diversity

Abstract

The primary focus of this chapter will be interspecies comparisons of milk proteins (caseins and major whey proteins but also proteins associated to the milk fat globule membrane) in terms of quantitative and structural (amino acid sequence and posttranslational modifications) variability. Within species variability has been also considered and particular attention paid to defects in the processing of primary transcripts (cryptic splice site usage and exon-skipping events) which contribute to protein diversity and evolution. Finally, developments in analytical tools, including genome sequencing, that have facilitated continued progress in the comprehensive characterization of the milk proteome complexity, and consequences of milk protein diversity in terms of functional properties are briefly discussed.