Recombinant micelle and method of in vivo assembly

1. A method of in vivo assembly of a recombinant micelle comprising:

introducing a plasmid into a plant cell, wherein

the plasmid comprises deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) encoding ribonucleic acid (RNA) for at least two ruminant casein proteins,

wherein the DNA is transcribed and translated in the plant cell;

forming recombinant casein proteins in the plant cell, wherein:

the recombinant casein proteins comprise a κ-casein and at least one of an αS1-casein, an αS2-casein, and a β-casein; and

assembling in vivo a recombinant micelle within the plant cell, wherein:

an outer layer of the recombinant micelle is enriched with the κ-casein, and

an inner matrix of the recombinant micelle comprises at least one of the αS1-casein, the αS2-casein, and the β-casein.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plasmid further comprises a segment of DNA encoding an N-terminal signal peptide that targets the recombinant casein proteins to a vacuole in the plant cell.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plasmid further comprises a segment of DNA encoding a selectable marker or a screenable marker.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plasmid further comprises a segment of DNA encoding interference RNA to suppress expression of a native protein or a native peptide in the plant cell.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plasmid further comprises a segment of DNA encoding a protein capable of altering an intracellular environment of the plant cell.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprising:

introducing a second plasmid into the plant cell;

wherein:

the second plasmid comprises a segment of DNA encoding;

at least one of:

an N-terminal signal peptide that targets the recombinant casein proteins to an endoplasmic reticulum in the plant cell,

an N-terminal signal peptide that targets the recombinant casein proteins to a vacuole in the plant cell,

a selectable marker or a screenable marker, or

a protein capable of altering an intracellular environment of the plant cell.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plasmid comprises a segment of DNA comprising one or more nucleotide sequences selected from SEQ ID NO:1 to SEQ ID NO:8.

8. A plasmid for the in vivo assembly of a recombinant casein micelle comprising deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) encoding at least two ruminant casein proteins comprising a κ-casein and at least one of an αS1-casein, an αS2-casein, a β-casein, and DNA encoding a promoter and an N-terminal signal peptide.

9. The plasmid as claimed in claim 8 wherein the N-terminal signal peptide targets the recombinant casein proteins to a vacuole in a plant cell.

10. The plasmid as claimed in claim 8 wherein the plasmid further comprises a segment of DNA encoding a selectable marker or a screenable marker.

11. The plasmid as claimed in claim 8 wherein the plasmid further comprises a segment of DNA encoding interference RNA to suppress expression of a native protein or a native peptide in a plant cell.

12. The plasmid as claimed in claim 8 wherein the plasmid further comprises a segment of DNA encoding a protein capable of altering an intracellular environment of a plant cell.

13. The plasmid as claimed in claim 8 wherein the plasmid comprises a segment comprising one or more nucleotide sequences selected from SEQ ID NO: 1 to SEQ ID NO: 8.

14. The method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the ruminant proteins are bovine proteins.

15. The method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising suppressing expression of a native protein or a native peptide in the plant cell.

16. The plasmid as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the ruminant proteins are bovine proteins.