This is the first report of a tomato 9 kDa LTP characterized in its
recombinant form for activity, resistance to thermal denaturation
and potential allergenic structural characteristics. Recombinant
allergens are of fundamental interest for advanced research in
allergology. They constitute a pure form of allergen to be used in
diagnosis and are the basis of studies for establishing relationships
between structural characteristics and allergenicity. Moreover in
the cases of allergens which are highly diffused in nature, the
availability of recombinant allergens can considerably accelerate
the comparison of the allergenicity grade of the different isoforms.
More LTP isoforms should be characterized in the available tomato
varieties, possibly also studying their capacity to react with IgEs of
allergic patients. These studies will provide a comprehensive
analysis of tomato LTPs allergenicity, useful for both clinical and
plant breeding applications.