Comparative and evolutionary analysis of major peanut allergen gene families

Abstract

Peanut ( Arachis hypogaea L.) causes one of the most serious food allergies. Peanut seed proteins, Arah1 , Arah2 , and Arah3 , are considered to be among the most important peanut allergens. To gain insights into genome organization and evolution of allergen-encoding genes, approximately 617 kb from the genome of cultivated peanut and 215 kb from a wild relative were sequenced including three Arah1 , one Arah2 , eight Arah3 , and two Arah6 gene family members. To assign polarity to differences between homoeologous regions in peanut, we used as outgroups the single orthologous regions in Medicago , Lotus , common bean, chickpea, and pigeonpea, which diverged from peanut about 50 Ma and have not undergone subsequent polyploidy.