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Pollen of the European and Asian white birch (Betula pendula and B. platyphylla) causes hay fever in humans. The allergenic potency of other birch species is largely unknown. To identify birch trees with a reduced allergenicity, we assessed the immunochemical characteristics of 15 species and two hybrids, representing four subgenera within the genus Betula, while focusing on the major pollen allergen Bet v 1. Antigenic and allergenic profiles of pollen extracts from these species were evaluated by SDS-PAGE and Western blot using pooled sera of birch-allergic individuals. Tryptic digests of the Bet v 1 bands were analyzed by LC-MS(E) to determine the abundance of various Bet v 1 isoforms. Bet v 1 was the most abundant pollen protein across all birch species. LC-MS(E) confirmed that pollen of all species contained a mixture of multiple Bet v 1 isoforms. Considerable differences in Bet v 1 isoform composition exist between birch species. However, isoforms that are predicted to have a high IgE-reactivity prevailed in pollen of all species. Immunoblotting confirmed that all pollen extracts were similar in immune-reactivity, implying that pollen of all birch species is likely to evoke strong allergic reactions., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Bet v 1 is an important cause of hay fever in northern Europe. Bet v 1 isoforms from the European white birch (Betula pendula) have been investigated extensively, but the allergenic potency of other birch species is unknown. The presence of Bet v 1 and closely related PR-10 genes in the genome was established by amplification and sequencing of alleles from eight birch species that represent the four subgenera within the genus Betula. Q-TOF LC-MSE was applied to identify which PR-10/Bet v 1 genes are actually expressed in pollen and to determine the relative abundances of individual isoforms in the pollen proteome., Results: All examined birch species contained several PR-10 genes. In total, 134 unique sequences were recovered. Sequences were attributed to different genes or pseudogenes that were, in turn, ordered into seven subfamilies. Five subfamilies were common to all birch species. Genes of two subfamilies were expressed in pollen, while each birch species expressed a mixture of isoforms with at least four different isoforms. Isoforms that were similar to isoforms with a high IgE-reactivity (Bet v 1a = PR-10.01A01) were abundant in all species except B. lenta, while the hypoallergenic isoform Bet v 1d (= PR-10.01B01) was only found in B. pendula and its closest relatives., Conclusion: Q-TOF LC-MSE allows efficient screening of Bet v 1 isoforms by determining the presence and relative abundance of these isoforms in pollen. B. pendula contains a Bet v 1-mixture in which isoforms with a high and low IgE-reactivity are both abundant. With the possible exception of B. lenta, isoforms identical or very similar to those with a high IgE-reactivity were found in the pollen proteome of all examined birch species. Consequently, these species are also predicted to be allergenic with regard to Bet v 1 related allergies.

Birch pollen allergy is predominantly caused by the major allergen Bet v 1 and can lead to crossreactions with homologous proteins in food. Two major cross-reactive food allergens are Dau c 1 from carrot and Api g 1 from celery, which have never been purified from their natural source. Here, we describe a non-denaturing purification method for obtaining natural Bet v 1, Dau c 1 and Api g 1, comprising of ammonium sulfate precipitation, hydrophobic interaction chromatography and size exclusion chromatography. This method resulted in 98-99% pure isoform mixtures for each allergen. Characterization of these isoform mixtures with Q-TOF MS/MS clearly showed earlier reported isoforms of Bet v 1, Dau c 1 and Api g 1, but also new isoforms. The presence of secondary structure in the three purified allergens was demonstrated via circular dichroism and showed high similarity. The immune reactivity of the natural allergens was compared with recombinant proteins by Western blot and ELISA and showed similar reactivity.