Food safety assessment of an antifungal protein from Moringa oleifera seeds in an agricultural biotechnology perspective

• Published in: Food and chemical toxicology 2015-09, Vol.83, p.1-9
• Main Authors: Pinto, Clidia E.M., Farias, Davi F., Carvalho, Ana F.U., Oliveira, José T.A., Pereira, Mirella L., Grangeiro, Thalles B., Freire, José E.C., Viana, Daniel A., Vasconcelos, Ilka M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Allergen; Allergens - adverse effects; Allergens - chemistry; Allergens - genetics; Allergens - metabolism; Animal Feed - adverse effects; Animal Feed - microbiology; Animals; Antigens, Plant - adverse effects; Antigens, Plant - chemistry; Antigens, Plant - genetics; Antigens, Plant - metabolism; Brazil; Chitin - metabolism; Chitin-binding protein; Dietary Proteins - adverse effects; Dietary Proteins - chemistry; Dietary Proteins - metabolism; Digestion; Food Hypersensitivity - etiology; Food Hypersensitivity - prevention & control; Food, Genetically Modified - adverse effects; Food, Genetically Modified - microbiology; Humans; Ligands; Mitosporic Fungi - growth & development; Mo-CBP3; Models, Molecular; Moringa oleifera; Moringa oleifera - genetics; Moringa oleifera - metabolism; Pest Control, Biological - methods; Plant Proteins - adverse effects; Plant Proteins - chemistry; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plants, Genetically Modified - adverse effects; Plants, Genetically Modified - genetics; Plants, Genetically Modified - metabolism; Protein Isoforms - adverse effects; Protein Isoforms - chemistry; Protein Isoforms - genetics; Protein Isoforms - metabolism; Risk Assessment; Seeds - genetics; Seeds - metabolism; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Transgenic crops; Weight of evidence
• ISSN: 0278-6915; 1873-6351
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fct.2015.05.012

Mo-CBP3 is an antifungal protein produced by Moringa oleifera which has been investigated as potential candidate for developing transgenic crops. Before the use of novel proteins, food safety tests must be conducted. This work represents an early food safety assessment of Mo-CBP3, using the two-tiered approach proposed by ILSI. The history of safe use, mode of action and results for amino acid sequence homology using the full-length and short contiguous amino acids sequences indicate low risk associated to this protein. Mo-CBP3 isoforms presented a reasonable number of alignments (>35% identity) with allergens in a window of 80 amino acids. This protein was resistant to pepsin degradation up to 2 h, but it was susceptible to digestion using pancreatin. Many positive attributes were presented for Mo-CBP3. However, this protein showed high sequence homology with allergens and resistance to pepsin digestion that indicates that further hypothesis-based testing on its potential allergenicity must be done. Additionally, animal toxicity evaluations (e.g. acute and repeated dose oral exposure assays) must be performed to meet the mandatory requirements of several regulatory agencies. Finally, the approach adopted here exemplified the importance of performing an early risk assessment of candidate proteins for use in plant transformation programs. •This work represents an early food safety assessment of Mo-CBP3, an antifungal protein from Moringa oleifera seeds.•Mo-CBP3 sequences presented reasonable number of alignments (>35% identity) with allergens in a window of 80 amino acids.•Mo-CBP3 was resistant to pepsin degradation up to 2 h.•Further hypothesis-based testing on Mo-CBP3 allergenic potential must be done.•Animal toxicity evaluations (e.g. acute and repeated dose oral exposure assays) must be performed.