Separation and characterization of oat globulin polypeptides

The storage globulin of oat seeds was separated into its acidic (α) and basic (β) polypeptides by ion-exchange chromatography in 6 m urea and further characterized by several electrophoretic techniques. Molecular weights of the α and β polypeptides were 32,500–37,500 and 22,000–24,000, respectively. The unreduced protein existed as disulfide-linked αβ species of molecular weight 53,000–58,000. Isoelectric points were approximately 5.9–7.2 (α) and 8.7–9.2 (β). Two-dimensional electrophoresis showed considerable heterogeneity within both groups of polypeptides. More complete amino acid analyses of the globulin and its polypeptides are presented along with a proposed structure of the native protein based on previous and present data. Similarities were noted between the oat globulin and the legumin (11 S) class of storage proteins in certain legumes.