title: Pepino mosaic virus infection of tomato affects allergen expression, but not the allergenic potential of fruits.
abstract: The plant pathogen Pepino mosaic virus (PepMV) is a major disease of greenhouse tomato crops worldwide. Plant pathogens can induce expression of defence- or pathogenesis-related proteins, including identified allergens. Therefore we hypothesised that PepMV infection results in the expression of allergens leading to a higher allergenic potential of tomato fruits. Transcript level analyses showed differential expression of 17 known and putative tomato fruit allergen encoding genes at early and late time points after PepMV inoculation, but no general induction was detected. Immunoblot analyses were conducted and IgEs from a serum pool of tomato allergic subjects reacted with 20 proteins, of which ten have not yet been described. In parallel, skin prick tests with a group of tomato allergic subjects did not show a general difference between PepMV infected and non-infected tomato fruits and basophil activation tests confirmed these results. In summary, PepMV infection of tomato plants can lead to long-lasting up-regulation of particular allergens in fruits, but the hypothesis that this results in a higher allergenic potential of the fruits proved invalid.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Nutrition, Leibniz-Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops Großbeeren/Erfurt e.V., Großbeeren, Germany. welter@igzev.de
authors.forename: Saskia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Welter
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dölle
authors.forename: Karola
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Weckwerth
authors.forename: Margitta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Worm
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Franken
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001491:Basophils / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D015550:Cell Degranulation; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D005638:Fruit / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D009029:Mosaic Viruses / Q000502:physiology*; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D010940:Plant Proteins; D018749:RNA, Plant