Dr. Okeudo-Cogan publishes her latest work on protein-fungal hyphae interaction in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

Dr. Mary C. Okeudo-Cogan (Postdoctoral Fellow, EPSRC Doctoral Prize) publishes a new, interdiciplinary paper titled "Unravelling protein-fungal hyphae interactions at nanoscale" in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces with co-authors from Schools of Food Science and Nutrition, Chemical and Process Engineering, Physics and Astronomy as Faculty of Biological Sciences as well as Quorn Foods, UK. This work advances fundamental understanding of the hyphal-binding mechanism of plant and animal proteins in composite systems, with deep insights into the most desirable properties of alternative, plant-based hyphae binders. Combining data from atomic force micriscopy, super-resolution microscopy, transmisison electron miroscopy coupled with self-consistent field theory calculations, this study highlights the uniform hyphal coating properties of ovalbumin  and the resulting attractive surface potential, which explains their better performance as hyphal binders. Conversely, the susceptibility of patatin to self-aggregation results in nonuniform attachment of protein aggregates to the hyphal surface delivering an inferior hypha binding ability relative to that of ovalbumin. Therefore, an attempt to replicate the behavior of ovalbumin can be streamlined by evaluating alternative protein(s) that offer uniform hyphal coating with minimal self-aggregation and repulsive interaction potential. In terms of practical food applications, this research demonstrates that the choice of alternative proteins to replicate the behavior and performance of animal proteins like ovalbumins as binders of composite food systems should go beyond similarities in protein physicochemical properties such as isoelectric point, solubility, and ratio of hydrophobic to hydrophilic amino acids, where patatin appears to be identical. Instead, significant consideration should be given to the underlying protein adsorption and adsorbed layer interaction behavior. Check out the full text here: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c01064