Ditaxis heterantha is a plant of the Euphorbiaceae family that grows in semiarid regions of Mexico. It produces yellow pigmented seeds that are used for coloring of foods. The seeds contain about 20% of proteins. Proteins of D. heterantha were extracted and fractionated on the basis of solubility. Three main protein fractions were obtained: glutelins, 488 ± 0.5; albumins, 229 ± 2; and total glo...

Bovine and human serum albumins catalyze the aldol reaction of aromatic aldehyedes and acetone, with saturation kinetics and moderate and opposite enantioselectivity. The reaction occurs at the binding site in domain IIa, and is inhibited by warfarin. Kinetic data are consistent with an enamine mechanism. The activity is conserved in a 103 aminoacid peptide derived from the albumin sequence.

The most abundant isoform of the 2S albumin present in seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana has been sequenced and the corresponding gene isolated. Examination of the protein and DNA sequences allows the determination of the exact proteolytic cleavage sites during posttranslational processing. Like other 2S albumins, that of Arabidopsis is made as a prepropeptide. After removal of the signal peptide, ...