Source: UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA submitted to
POLYMER-PROTEIN INTERACTIONS IN NATURAL RUBBER LATEX
Sponsoring Institution
State Agricultural Experiment Station
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
STATE
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0224191
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
NEV003HJ
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 17, 2010
Project End Date
Sep 15, 2013
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Shintani, DA.
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA
(N/A)
RENO,NV 89557
Performing Department
Biochemistry
Non Technical Summary
The funded research will allow for the development of natural and synthetic rubber polymers that will match and surpass the material properties of natural rubber derived from Hevea brasiliensis (Hevea). Such high quality rubber is essential for the manufacture of industrial and medical devices that are important to the economic and strategic security of the United States. Because Hevea grows in only tropical regions and is the primary commercial source of natural rubber, the U.S. is dependent on the import of this strategic material from foreign sources. The funded research will lead to the creation of commercially viable alternative sources of high quality rubber from natural (i.e. plant) and synthetic origins.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
20422491060100%
Knowledge Area
204 - Plant Product Quality and Utility (Preharvest);

Subject Of Investigation
2249 - Rubber, gum, and resin plants, general/other;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems);
Goals / Objectives
To advance the fundamental knowledge regarding structure/property relationships in natural rubber, especially the role of naturally-occurring, non-rubber constituents in creating and controlling the nanostructured features that are believed to be responsible for the unique properties of natural rubber derived from Hevea brasiliensis.
Project Methods
1) Deconstruct natural rubber latex through selective separation of naturally-occurring proteins and lipids by: a) Identifying highly abundant natural rubber proteins (proteomics) b) Extracting and purifying proteins from natural latex, including Hevea c) Producing recombinant rubber particle proteins 2) Systematically reconstructing the latex composition from synthetic and Hevea, guayule, and Russian dandelion natural latex by protein add-back compositions. 3) Fully characterizing the nanostructure and properties of resulting materials.

Progress 09/17/10 to 09/15/13

Outputs
OUTPUTS: For additional information, please contact David Shintani at 775-784-1095 or shintani@unr.edu PARTICIPANTS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
For additional information, please contact David Shintani at 775-784-1095 or shintani@unr.edu

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: We have optimized the production of the small rubber particle protein (SRPP) and rubber elongation factor (REF) using an E. coli protein expression system. However the maximum obtainable yield using this system was approximately 2 mg/liter culture. Since we need hundreds of milligrams of protein, we had switch to using a Baculovirus system which should have much higher yield. These efforts are well on the way and we should be ready for our first harvest in the next couple of weeks. PARTICIPANTS: David Shintani, PD, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV Mohammad Yazdani, Graduate Student, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV TARGET AUDIENCES: Rubber manufacturing industry, tire manufacturing industry, USDA, petroleum industry, PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
The ability to generate large amounts of SRPP and REF will allow us to reconstruct a natural rubber equivalent using synthetic rubber as a precursor. This could lead to the development of a better synthetic rubber that can be used in high performance rubber products and decrease our dependence on the current sole commercial source of high quality rubber (i.e. Hevea brasiliensis).

Publications

  • No publications reported this period