Comparative aspects of milk caseins

The caseins comprise the major protein component of milk of most mammals and are secreted as micelles that also carry high concentrations of calcium. They are phosphoproteins that represent the products of four genes, equivalent to those that encode the bovine alpha(s1), alpha(s2), beta, and kappa-caseins. There is considerable variation in the relative proportions of the particular caseins across species. The primary sequences of the alpha(s1), alpha(s2), and beta-caseins also show considerable species variation consistent with rapidly evolving genes that are proposed to have a common precursor. In contrast, the kappa-caseins exhibit features that demonstrate a separate origin and function where they are proposed to stabilise the micelle structure. This review focuses on comparative aspects of the caseins across a number of species for which information is now available. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.