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Biological Significance of Milk Protein Polymorphism

Eastern Regional Research Laboratory, ARS, USDA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19118

ABSTRACT

Milk protein polymorphism has been studied in depth since Aschaffenburg's discovery of genetically distinct forms of ß-lactoglobulin in 1955. The significance of these various protein polymorphisms, as related to the synthesis and secretion of milk, is yet to be elaborated fully. However, certain areas in milk protein polymorphism warrant particular attention. These include: assignment of mRNA triplet codons to known amino acid substitutions; biosynthesis and primary structure of polymorphs; observations of micelle formation in vivo through electron microscopy; mode of inheritance, breed specificity, and linkage of these genes; and, finally, biological function of the milk protein variants.