ABSTRACT

Soy meal is a valuable protein supplement for humans and animals. An abundant proteins in soy meal is the seed storage protein β-conglycinin, a trimer composed of different combinations of β, α and α’ subunits. Allergic responses to β-conglycinin reduce soy meal’s value as a feed because they are associated with poor performance in animals. Allergies begin with an inappropriate immune response to food. To assess immune response to β-conglycinin, we identify epitopes that bind immunoglobulins (Ig) Y, M and A isolated from chicken eggs. We identified specific immunogenic epitopes in β-conglycinin that were commonly antigenic in multiple eggs. Generally, epitopes bound multiple types of Ig. Comparison of the protein sequences suggest that immunogenic epitopes are conserved between subunits. We propose ways that variants of these immunogenic regions could be used to develop soybean lines to determine if creating less immunogenic soybean improves growth of animals fed soymeal.

摘要

大豆粉是对人和动物有价值的蛋白质补充剂。豆粕中富含的蛋白质是种子储存蛋白β-伴大豆球蛋白，它是由β，α和α的不同组合组成的三聚体”子单元。对β-伴大豆球蛋白的过敏反应降低了豆粕作为饲料的价值，因为它们与动物的不良表现有关。过敏始于对食物的不适当的免疫反应。为了评估对β-伴大豆球蛋白的免疫反应，我们鉴定了结合自鸡蛋中分离的免疫球蛋白（Ig）Y，M和A的抗原决定簇。我们在β-伴大豆球蛋白中鉴定了特定的免疫原性抗原决定簇，这些抗原决定簇通常在多个卵中具有抗原性。通常，表位结合多种类型的Ig。蛋白质序列的比较表明免疫原性表位在亚基之间是保守的。我们提出了这些免疫原性区域的变体可用于开发大豆品系的方法，以确定产生较少免疫原性的大豆是否会改善饲喂豆粕的动物的生长。