ISOLATION AND PARTIAL CHARACTERIZATION OF ALLERGENS FROM HELIANTHUS-ANNUUS (SUNFLOWER) POLLEN

We have purified four allergens from Helianthus annuus (sunflower) pol len, hereafter named as allergens a, b, c, and d. Under native conditi ons, allergen a has a mol. mass of 32, allergen b has one of 24, and a llergens c and d each have one of 55 kDa. At the least, allergens b, c , and d demonstrate charge heterogeneity, and the electrophoretic mobi lity of allergens c and d increases when these allergens are deglycosy lated with trifluoromethanesulfonic acid. Cross-reactivity among the f our allergens and with the whole extract is very high, and each allerg en recognizes IgE in a high proportion of patients sensitized to sunfl ower pollen.