We purified four single molecular species of
-conglycinin heterotrimers consisting of the
and
subunits or the
' and
subunits from mutant soybean cultivars lacking the
or
' subunit,respectively, and examined their structural features and physicochemical functions. The extent ofthe hydrophobicities of the heterotrimers was related to the number of the
or
' subunit. The thermalstabilities of the heterotrimers were mainly conferred by the subunit which had lower thermal stability.Solubilities at low ionic strength (
= 0.08) of the heterotrimers containing the
or
' subunit werevery similar to those of the
and
' homotrimers, respectively. Emulsifying abilities and heat-inducedassociations of the heterotrimers containing one
subunit were similar to those of the
or
'homotrimer, whereas those of the heterotrimers containing two
subunits were similar to those ofthe
homotrimer.Keywords:
-Conglycinin; structure-physicochemical function relationship; solubility; thermal stability;soybean