Maize, protein content

Rice is the most important staple food crop in the world and has also emerged as the model cereal species (it is the only terrestrial plant other than Arabidopsis thaliana to benefit from a completed genome sequence, and extensive EST resources are also available). Rice has a lower annual grain yield than maize (6600 kg ha-1) and the grain has a lower protein content (8%), but like maize it is easy to transform and manipulate in the laboratory, a range of useful expression cassettes have been devel-... 

Animal feeds are a major market, especially for monogastric animals. This is because their nutritional requirements are high and the lysine content of traditional feed such as soy or maize is low. A supplementation of feeds with individual essential amino acids is necessary because a high protein contents lead to excessive manure production, especially by pigs. 

The use of many varieties and crosses to improve yield and grain quality in triticale as well as adaptation to local conditions has resulted in a variation in nutrient composition. The protein content of newer varieties is in the range of 95-132g/kg, similar to that of wheat (Briggs, 2002 Stacey et al, 2003) Typical lysine contents (g/kg) reported by Hede (2001) from work in Mexico and Ecuador are triticale 50.4, barley 29.4, wheat 43.0 and maize 22.7. 

S9, with higher starch synthase activity, had 36% of the amylose content observed in the nonmutant endosperm, whereas mutant S5, with an even lower starch synthase activity of 32%, had only 21% of the nonmutant maize amylose content. These data further support the view that the waxy protein is involved in amylose synthesis. 

Brankov M., Dragicevic V., Simic M., Spasojevic I. Dynamics of soluble protein content and grain yield in maize inbred lines influenced by foramsulfuron. Conference Proceedings Fifth International Scientific Agricultural Symposium "Agrosym 2014" October 23-26, Jahorina, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia, 2014, p. 497-450. 

The majority of proteins occurring in fruits and vegetables play enzymatic roles that are very important in the physiology and postmortem behavior of the crop. The protein content in vegetables is lower than 3%, except in sweet maize (above 4%). In fruits it ranges from below 1% to above 1.5%. They are found mainly in the cytoplasmic layers. 

It has been observed that by the action of dalapon phosphate uptake in maize is changed, and the protein content of sugar beet is reduced (Ingle and Rogers, 1961). 

TABLE 2.5 Protein content, protein digestibility, lysine and leucine contents and PDCAASs of normal and improved protein quality lines of sorghum, compared to wheat, maize, barley, and pearl millet (data from several sources as indicated)... 

Because Mo promotes the utilization of absorbed nitrates in plants and promotes N fixation in leguminous plants, it is likely to influence the protein content of plants. Applications of Mo have been shown to increase the contents of soluble protein in maize (Figure 4.3) (Agarwala et al., 1978) and beans (Domska, Benedycka, and Krauze, 1989). 

Coumarin reduced labeled glucose incorporation and carbohydrate and protein content of the cytoplasm of Pythium, but enzymes related to the metabolism of cell wall polysaccharides were not affected [296]. It has been reported that moulds are more sensitive to coumarin when they are cultured on the simple synthetic nutrient medium than on the yeast water [140]. This suggests that coumarin blocks the synthesis of an unknown metabolite of ndamental importance. Coumarin was found to affect the level of a variety of free amino acids present in a cell. In addition, some nucleic acid precursors partially reverse the coumarin-induced inhibition of maize mesocotyle [131]. The stimulation of germination and growth caused by coumarin in low concentrations may be assumed as a supercompensation mechanism. 

Maize straw, or corn stover, has a higher nutrient content and is more digestible than most other straws. It has a crude protein content of about 60 g/kg DM and a metabolisable energy value of about 9 MJ/kg DM. In North America, com stover is... 

The crude protein content of maize is very variable and generally ranges from about 90 g/kg to 140 g/kg DM, although varieties have been developed containing even higher contents. In the USA, the tendency has been to develop hybrid varieties of lower protein content. 

The protein contents of various fishmeals vary over a range of about 500-750 g/kg, but the composition of the protein is relatively constant. It is rich in the essential amino acids, particularly lysine, cystine, methionine and tryptophan, and is a valuable supplement to cereal-based diets, particularly where they contain much maize. The essential amino acid composition is compared with that of ideal protein (see Table 13.7 in Chapter 13) in Box 23.3. 

Scientists developed a variety of maize whose protein content was enhanced by splicing genes from Brazil nuts but halted commercial production of the strain (developed as stock feed) when they discovered that it triggered severe nut allergies. 

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