Da Silva, Laura S.Taylor, JanetTaylor, J.R.N. (John Reginald Nuttall)2012-09-202012-09-202011-09Da Silva, LS, Taylor, J & Taylor JRN 2011, 'Transgenic sorghum with altered kafirin synthesis : kafirin solubility, polymerization, and protein digestion', Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemisty, vol. 59, no. 17, pp. 9265-9270.0021-8561 (print)1520-5118 (online)10.1021/jf201878phttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/19849Transgenic sorghum (TG) lines with altered kafirin synthesis, particularly suppression of γ-kafirin synthesis, and improved protein quality have been developed. The proportion of kafirin extracted with 60% tert-butyl alcohol alone was greatly increased in the TG lines. However, the total amount of kafirin remained unchanged. Further, in the TG lines, the kafirin was much less polymerized by disulfide bonding. There was also evidence of compensatory synthesis of other kafirin proteins. Cooked protein digestibility was increased in the TG form, even after removal of interfering starch. The TG protein bodies were intermediate in appearance between the normal type and the invaginated high digestibility mutants. Hence, the increased protein digestibility of these TG lines is probably related to their lower levels of disulfide-bonded kafirin polymerization, allowing better access of proteases. This work appears to confirm that disulfide bond formation in kafirin is responsible for the reduced protein digestibility of cooked sorghum.en© 2011 American Chemical Society. This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher.SorghumTransgenicKafirinProtein digestibilityDisulfide cross-linkingPolymerizationPostprint Article