Comparative protein profiles of the Ambrosia plants

•Total of 229 proteins representing multiple cellular protein functions identified•Found a minimum of 59 proteins not previously reported for any ragweed plant•Known allergens of short ragweed identified for giant and western species•Newly found enolase-1 allergen for some ragweed species•Potential allergens proposed based on sequence similarity

Ragweed pollen is primarily responsible for the hay fever allergies of sufferers throughout the world. A proteome study of three ragweed plants (Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Ambrosia trifida, and Ambrosia psilostachya) was undertaken to document and compare their protein profiles. Proteins extracted from the pollen of the three plants were subjected to one dimensional electrophoresis followed by tandem liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Peptide sequence mapping permitted discovery of proteins not previously reported for all three plants and 45% of the identified proteins were shared by all three of them. Application of stringent criteria revealed not only a majority of known allergens for short ragweed but also allergens not previously reported for the other two plants. Additionally, potentially allergy inducing enolases are reported for the three plants. These results suggest that all three ragweed plants could contribute to the allergy malady.