Comparative Seed Proteome Profile Reveals No Alternation of Major Allergens in High-Yielding Mung Bean Cultivars

Mung bean contains up to 32.6% protein
and is one of
the great
sources of plant-based protein. Because many allergens also function
as defense-related proteins, it is important to determine their abundance
levels in the high-yielding, disease-resistant cultivars. In this
study, for the first time, we compared the seed proteome of high-yielding
mung bean cultivars developed by a conventional breeding approach.
Using a label-free quantitative proteomic platform, we successfully
identified and quantified a total of 1373 proteins. Comparative analysis
between the high-yielding disease-resistant cultivar (MC5) and the
other three cultivars showed that a total of 69 common proteins were
significantly altered in their abundances across all cultivars. Bioinformatic
analysis of these altered proteins demonstrated that PDF1 (a defensin-like
protein) exhibited high sequence similarity and epitope matching with
the established peanut allergens, indicating a potential mung bean
allergen that showed a cultivar-specific response. Conversely, known
mung bean allergen proteins such as PR-2/PR-10 (Vig r 1), Vig r 2,
Vig r 4, LTP1, β-conglycinin, and glycinin G4 showed no alternation
in the MC5 compared to other cultivars. Taken together, our findings
suggest that the known allergen profiles may not be impacted by the
conventional plant breeding method to develop improved mung bean cultivars.