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Screening for an Allergic Response to 2nd Generation Biofuel Sources
Citation:
Ward, M., L. Copeland, M. Bollman, L. Watrud, AND D. Olszyk. Screening for an Allergic Response to 2nd Generation Biofuel Sources. Presented at Society of Toxicology, Phoenix, AZ, March 23 - 27, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
The use of cellulosic biofuels crops can potentially reduce our carbon footprint. However, they may have unintended ecological and health effects such as increased competitiveness and allergenicity. Climate change may impact the quality or quantity of allergens produced in elevated temperatures. The goal of these studies was to 1) develop a method to assess the potential allergenicity of the various grass components to which workers will be exposed and 2) determine if there are differences based on grass growth temperature (gt).
Description:
Abstract for March 2014 Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting The use of cellulosic biofuels crops can potentially reduce our carbon footprint. However, they may have unintended ecological and health effects such as increased competitiveness and allergenicity. Climate change may impact the quality or quantity of allergens produced in elevated temperatures. The goal of these studies was to 1) develop a method to assess the potential allergenicity of the various grass components to which workers will be exposed and 2) determine if there are differences based on grass growth temperature (gt). The biofuel grass components (leaves, flowers/stems, anthers, pollen) of Sorghum bicolor and Panicum virgatum were extracted in an excess of 0.2 mM Tris pH 8. Following centrifugation the supernatant was concentrated and protein content assayed. Serum (IgE antibody source) was generated by exposing female BALB/c mice 4X over a 4 week period by intratracheal aspiration. The dosing agent was a pool of equal protein amounts from each of the component extracts/ species/gt. Three days after the final exposure the mice were exsanguinated and the blood pooled by species and gt. Western blots of the component extracts were probed with species/gt specific serum for IgE reactivity. Blots of S. bicolor pollen extract identified 2 IgE reactive protein bands (~30 kD, ~24kD). Grass gt had no apparent effect on IgE reactivity. Blots of P. virgatum pollen (high gt) indicated at least 9 IgE reactive protein bands. In the P. virgatum control temperature pollen extract the 4 IgE reactive protein bands were similar to 4 detected in the high temperature pollen extract but with less band intensity. IgE reactive proteins were not identified in the other component extracts for either biofuel grass species. This limited dataset suggests that pollen is the most relevant source of allergenic proteins. Additionally, elevated growth temperatures may alter the IgE reactive profile for some species but not for all. This abstract does not reflect EPA policy.