BIOL111

• CO2


  Calvin cycle
• RuBP


  Calvin cycle
• Bundela R., Keown J.R., Watkin S.A., & Pearce F.G. (2019): 'Structure of hyperthermostable dimeric Archeal Rubisco from Hyperthermus butylicus. Acta Cryst D75: 536-544'
• Pat Brown, Founder of Impossible Foods: 'for a year, our prototype burgers used Rubisco, and it worked functionally better than any other protein, making a juicy burger'
• Reasons for plant-based meat alternatives

  • Health & Wellness
  • Animal Welfare
  • Environmental concerns
• Inferior taste of plant based meat alternatives is a barrier for ~60% of meat eaters
• Nutritional qualities


  • Pork
  • Milk
  • Egg
  • Soy
  • Chickpea
  • Pea
  • Barley
  • Wheat
  • Rubisco
• Digestable Indispensable Amino Acid Score (DIAAS)

  Measure of protein quality
• Plant


  • Soy
  • Pea
  • Rubisco
• Animal


  • Pork
  • Milk
  • Egg
• Rubisco makes up ~3% of leaf dry mass
• The moisture content of leaf biomass is ~80%
• Rubisco is ~0.6% of fresh leaf weight
• Purification process


  1. Leaf biomass

  2. Pulp

  3. Extraction

  4. Green juice

  5. Green pellet

  6. De-greening

  7. Brown juice

  8. White protein

  9. Fractionation & Concentration
• Current commercial efforts


  • $USD28M
  • €5.5M
  • $USD21.5M
• We are using an online open access textbook for this course that is freely available
• You are expected to be familiar with material from Chapters 1-6 and 14-15
• Polypeptide


  A linear chain of amino acid residues
• Peptide


  Short polypeptides, containing less than 20–30 residues
• The individual amino acid residues are bonded together by peptide bonds between adjacent amino acid residues
• The white dwarf star Amethyst is in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is half the mass of the sun, but we have not yet found any planets orbiting it
• Biology


  The study of life and living systems
• First law of thermodynamics

  Energy can be transferred or transformed, but not created or destroyed
• Second law of thermodynamics

  Every energy transfer or transformation increases the disorder of the universe
• Most biological systems are made of the same things
• Structure is important to function (at all levels)
• DNA


  Molecule that contains the genetic information
• Central dogma of molecular biology

  DNA -> RNA -> Protein
• JN.1, BA.2.86, L455S
• The nature of science

  Science seeks to develop an accurate description through observation and experimentation
• Discovery based science


  Often describes nature
• Hypothesis based science


  Often explains nature
• Reductionism


  Breaks larger systems down into their component parts
• Applied research


  Aims to solve practical problems
• Basic research


  Aims to expand fundamental knowledge
• Indigenous knowledge often transmits knowledge within stories or myths to ensure longevity
• Discovery (inductive) reasoning


  Describes nature by analyzing large volumes of data to find patterns or correlations
• Hypothesis (deductive) reasoning


  Proposes an explanation, makes predictions, and then tests them
• The scientific method


  1. Make observations

  2. Formulate a hypothesis

  3. Design an experiment to test the hypothesis

  4. Collect and analyze data

  5. Draw conclusions

  6. Communicate findings
• Digoxin


  Drug used to treat congestive heart failure