title: Allergenicity assessment of osmotin, a pathogenesis-related protein, used for transgenic crops.
abstract: Genetic engineering can enhance abiotic stress tolerance of plants, thereby increasing productivity. The present study investigates allergenicity of osmotin protein used for developing transgenic crops. Bioinformatic analysis of osmotin was performed using SDAP and Farrp allergen databases. Osmotin was cloned in pET22b+ vector, purified to homogeneity, and analyzed for digestibility, heat stability, and IgE binding using atopic patients' sera. Osmotin showed 40-92% and 48-75% homology with allergens in SDAP and Farrp databases, respectively. These cross-reactive allergens were from apple, tomato, peach, capsicum, kiwi fruit, and cypress. Osmotin was resistant to pepsin digestion and heat treatment at 90 °C for 1 h. Osmotin protein showed dose-dependent inhibition with pooled patients' sera. It showed significant IgE binding with 22 of 117 patients' sera who were sensitized to tomato and apple, thus indicating cross-reactivity among tomato, apple, and osmotin allergens. In conclusion, osmotin was identified as a potential allergen and showed cross-reactivity with tomato and apple allergens.
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Immunology Section, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR), Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Prerna
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Abinav Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Bhanu Pratap
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Shailendra Nath
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Gaur
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arora
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000276:immunology*; D052179:Antigens, Plant / Q000276:immunology; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003429:Cross Reactions / Q000276:immunology; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology; D005638:Fruit / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000378:metabolism; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000276:immunology; D027845:Malus / Q000276:immunology; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics*; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D052179:Antigens, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins; C073139:osmotin protein, Nicotiana tabacum; D007073:Immunoglobulin E