Comparative proteomic analysis among Brazilian and Peruvian maize (Zea mays L.) varieties, including convencional and genetically modified ones

• Grant number: 12/02623-2
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: January 01, 2013
• End date: December 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Science
• Principal Investigator: Flavio Finardi Filho
• Grantee: Flavio Finardi Filho
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is the second largest cereal used in manufacturing products, for use in food and feed, and the culture has the highest number of genetically modified (GM) events already launched on the world market. Although biosafety issues of GM plants are well established,they are still subject to doubts and uncertainties about the expression of new proteins, unwanted mutations, changes in nutrient profiles and the development of toxic compounds. The comparative compositional analysis has been the practice best suited to the safety assessment for food and feed from GM plants. However, the introduction of a new protein in a plant can lead to changes in different ways and thereby affect post-translational modifications (MPTS), which can compromise thenutritional properties of the products. Therefore, new strategies are being developed to elucidate the changes occurring in protein profiles of GM and conventional varieties in order to expand the tools to detect any difference in the protein transcription. Moreover, profiles of intracellular metabolites should be evaluated to increase the food safety and security. This context, proteomics is a powerful technique which provides information on the molecular level of genetic variability that is actually expressed and present in the final product for eating. This project will study samples of conventional maize with improved protein quality (QPM), and several varieties of GM maize common Brazilian and Peruvian origin intended for human consumption, such as substantial equivalence, the profiles of the different protein fractions (albumins, globulins, prolamins and glutelins), patterning of conditions to establish protein maps of each variety, detecting differences in expression by image analysis and protein identification by mass spectrometry (MS). These proteomic analyzes may help the knowledge of the differences among the protein maps of conventional varieties of the two countries, among overall set of samples, conventional and GM varieties, as well as the unexpected changes that may occur during the process of genetic modification. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DOS SANTOS-DONADO, PRISCILA R.; DONADO-PESTANA, CARLOS M.; KAWAHARA, REBECA; ROSA-FERNANDES, LIVIA; PALMISANO, GIUSEPPE; FINARDI-FILHO, FLAVIO. Comparative analysis of the protein profile from biofortified cultivars of quality protein maize and conventional maize by gel-based and gel-free proteomic approaches. LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, v. 138, p. 20-pg., 2021-03-01. (12/02623-2, 19/18346-7)