Molecular cloning of Indian jujube (Zizyphus mauritiana) allergen Ziz m 1 with sequence similarity to plant class III chitinases

Indian jujube (Zizyphus mauritiana) is a sweet fruit that is abundantly cultivated in Taiwan. We have previously identified 42 and 30 kDa allergens that are cross-reactive with latex allergen from crude Indian jujube extract. This study aimed to clone the 30 kDa Ziz m 1 Z. mauritiana allergen. The Ziz m 1 encoding cDNA was isolated from a ZAPII cDNA library constructed from Z. mauritiana mRNA, sequenced and expressed in Pichia pastoris. The protein predicted from the cDNA sequence has 330 amino acids, the first 25 of which constituted a putative signal peptide. The deduced molecular mass of the mature protein is 33.86 kDa, while its isoelectric point is estimated at 4.36. The recombinant Ziz m 1 showed chitinase activity, possessed IgE binding capacity, and had IgE cross-reactivity with the latex allergen. Moreover, anti-recombinant Ziz m 1 antibody-based ELISA was able to detect commercial skin testing latex reagent, laboratory prepared latex and Indian jujube extracts. Recombinant Ziz m 1 showed 87.5% skin reactivities on eight latex- and Indian jujube-sensitive subjects. Although no sequence similarity was found to other known allergens, Ziz m 1 was found to have amino acid sequence identity (39–45.3%) to many plant chitinases including chitinase (45.2%) of Hevea brasiliensis (hevamine), class III chitinases of Vigna angularis (45.3%), Capsicum annuum (44.7%) and Oryza sativa (41.2%). A conserved domain search revealed that Ziz m 1 belongs to the family 18 glycosyl hydrolases. The recombinant allergen may therefore be of value for diagnosis and therapeutic purposes, and the further characterization of Indian jujube allergen may help to elucidate the mechanism underlying latex–fruit syndrome.