Combined N‑Glycome and N‑Glycoproteome Analysis of the Lotus japonicus Seed Globulin Fraction Shows Conservation of Protein Structure and Glycosylation in Legumes

Legume food allergy, such as allergy toward peanuts and soybeans, is a health issue predicted to worsen as dietary advice recommends higher intake of legume-based foods. Lotus japonicus (Lotus) is an established legume plant model system for studies of symbiotic and pathogenic microbial interactions and, due to its well characterized genotype/phenotype and easily manipulated genome, may also be suitable for studies of legume food allergy. Here we present a comprehensive study of the Lotus N-glycoproteome. The global and site-specific N-glycan structures of Lotus seed globulins were analyzed using mass spectrometry-based glycomics and glycoproteomics techniques. In total, 19 N-glycan structures comprising high mannose (∼20%), pauci-mannosidic (∼40%), and complex forms (∼40%) were determined. The pauci-mannosidic and complex N-glycans contained high amounts of the typical plant determinants β-1,2-xylose and α-1,3-fucose. Two abundant Lotus seed N-glycoproteins were site-specifically profiled; a predicted lectin containing two fully occupied N-glycosylation sites carried predominantly pauci-mannosidic structures in different distributions. In contrast, Lotus convicilin storage protein 2 (LCP2) carried exclusively high mannose N-glycans similar to its homologue, Ara h 1, which is the major allergen in peanut. In silico investigation confirmed that peanut Ara h 1 and Lotus LCP2 are highly similar at the primary and higher protein structure levels. Hence, we suggest that Lotus has the potential to serve as a model system for studying the role of seed proteins and their glycosylation in food allergy.