This is a one-year collaborative project between Thomas P. Abbott of the USDA-ARS-Northern Regional Research Laboratory and Atsuo Watanabe of the National Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan. The objectives of the study are to determine the influence of additives on the membrane separation of proteins, especially protein-membrane interactions. Membrane separation is an integral part of scaling up of biological processes, the challenge of the 1990s. Scientists in the Japanese food industry, largely trained in Dr. Watanabe's laboratory, are expert in the membrane separation of proteins. Through this collaborative project, they will share their expertise with scientists from the USDA's Northern Regional Research Center, a major center of American agricultural research. The project will focus on the isolation of proteins from jojoba. A commercial use for jojoba protein isolates exists if they can be isolated economically, but more important, a better understanding of protein isolation of membranes and the effect of agents that prevent protein-membrane clogging will result from this project.
