OPEN ACCESS ARTICLE

This Article Free via Open Access: OA OA Full Text Full Text (PDF) OA All Versions of this Article: 144/2/836    most recent pp.107.096933v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Plant Physiol. Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kang, I.-H. Articles by Gallo, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kang, I.-H. Articles by Gallo, M. Agricola Articles by Kang, I.-H. Articles by Gallo, M. Related Collections Legume Biology

Temporal and Spatial Expression of the Major Allergens in Developing and Germinating Peanut Seed^1,[C],[OA]

Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 (I.-H.K.); Agronomy Department (P.S., M.G.), Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology Program (M.G.), and the Genetics Institute (M.G.), University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32610 (P.S., M.G.); and Department of Horticulture, University of Georgia, Tifton, Georgia 31793 (P.O.-A.)

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea) seed proteins Ara h 1, Ara h 2, and Ara h 3 are considered to be the major peanut allergens. However, little is known about their temporal and spatial expression during seed development and upon germination and seedling growth. In this study, transcript levels of the three major peanut allergen genes, ara h 1, ara h 2, and ara h 3, and their corresponding proteins were found in all cultivars. Expression patterns were heterogeneous depending on the specific peanut allergen gene and the cultivars tested. However, ara h 3 expression patterns among the cultivars were more variable than ara h 1 and ara h 2. Transcripts were tissue specific, observed in seeds, but not in leaves, flowers, or roots, and were undetectable during seed germination. In situ hybridizations and immunotissue prints revealed that both embryonic axes and cotyledons expressed the allergens. However, more ara h 1 and ara h 3 messenger RNA was detected in cotyledons relative to embryonic axes. Allergen polypeptide degradation patterns were different in embryonic axes compared with cotyledons during germination and seedling growth, with levels of Ara h 1 and Ara h 2 dramatically reduced compared to the Ara h 3 polypeptides in embryonic axes. These characterization studies of major peanut allergen genes and their corresponding seed storage proteins can provide the basic information needed for biochemical and molecular approaches to obtain a hypoallergenic peanut.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Maria Gallo (mgm{at}ufl.edu).

^[C] Some figures in this article are displayed in color online but in black and white in the print edition.

^[OA] Open Access articles can be viewed online without a subscription.

www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.107.096933

^* Corresponding author; e-mail mgm{at}ufl.edu; fax 352–273–8284.

Received January 31, 2007; accepted April 13, 2007; published April 27, 2007.

Related articles in Plant Physiol.:

On the Inside

Peter V. Minorsky
Plant Physiol. 2007 144: 535-536. [Full Text]