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Dau c 1.01 and Dau c 1.02-silenced transgenic carrot plants show reduced allergenicity to patients with carrot allergy

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Abstract

Pathogenesis-related protein-10 (PR10) is a ubiquitous small plant protein induced by microbial pathogens and abiotic stress that adversely contributes to the allergenic potency of many fruits and vegetables, including carrot. In this plant, two highly similar genes encoding PR10 isoforms have been isolated and designated as allergen Dau c 1.01 and Dau c 1.02. The aim of the study was to generate PR10-reduced hypoallergenic carrots by silencing either one of these genes in transgenic carrots by means of RNA interference (RNAi). The efficiency of gene silencing by stably expressed hairpin RNA (hnRNA) was documented by means of quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR) and immunoblotting. Quantification of the residual protein revealed that PR10 accumulation was strongly decreased compared with untransformed controls. Treatment of carrot plants with the PR protein-inducing chemical salicylic acid resulted in an increase of PR10 isoforms only in wild-type but not in Dau c 1-silenced mutants. The decrease of the allergenic potential in Dau c 1-silenced plants was sufficient to cause a reduced allergenic reactivity in patients with carrot allergy, as determined with skin prick tests (SPT). However, simultaneous silencing of multiple allergens will be required to design hypoallergenic carrots for the market. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of creating low-allergenic food by using RNAi. This constitutes a reasonable approach to allergen avoidance.

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Abbreviations

Qpcr:

Quantitative RT-PCR

PR:

Pathogenesis-related

RNAi:

RNA interference

SPT:

Skin prick test

WT:

Wild-type

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Jonas Lidholm and Asa Marknell DeWitt (Phadia AB, Uppsala Sweden) for providing the experimental ImmunoCAPs. The work was supported by grants Ko 1208/18-1, Mahler Ma 1997/3-1, So 300/13-1 and Vi 165/6-1 from the German Research Foundation (DFG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for BioSystems, Land Use and Nutrition, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany

    Susanna Peters, Jafargholi Imani & Karl-Heinz Kogel

  2. Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

    Vera Mahler

  3. Division Allergology, Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Langen, Germany

    Kay Foetisch, Susanne Kaul, Stephan Scheurer & Stefan Vieths

  4. Department of Biology, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

    Kathrin E. Paulus

Authors
  1. Susanna Peters
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  2. Jafargholi Imani
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  3. Vera Mahler
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  4. Kay Foetisch
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  5. Susanne Kaul
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  6. Kathrin E. Paulus
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  7. Stephan Scheurer
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  8. Stefan Vieths
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  9. Karl-Heinz Kogel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karl-Heinz Kogel.

Additional information

Susanna Peters and Jafargholi Imani contributed equally.

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Peters, S., Imani, J., Mahler, V. et al. Dau c 1.01 and Dau c 1.02-silenced transgenic carrot plants show reduced allergenicity to patients with carrot allergy. Transgenic Res 20, 547–556 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-010-9435-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11248-010-9435-0

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