Distinction of apple cultivars according to their mal D 1 allergen coding genes using PCR technique

Apple is one of the most important fruit grown and consumed in the temperate climate region. About 2% of the European population suffers from several allergenic reactions after consumption. Presence of 7 members of Mal d 1 gene family occurring in some apples was examined by PCR. The Mal d 1.01 and 1.02 genes could be detected from 91% and 79% of apple cultivars, respectively, due to the high degree of conservative regions. The Mal d 1.04 gene has 4 functional varieties and 2 pseudo-alleles, so it is highly variable. The PCR amplifi cation with Mal d 1.06 primers gave one or two fragments with different sizes. The electrophoretic pattern is a suitable means to select apple cultivars according to their low, medium, or high Mal d 1 allergen content. Florina apple showed the single 154 bp allele, which is responsible for the small Mal d 1 allergen content in homozygote form.. Several samples gave weak signal or did not give any fragment-band on the gel, so Mal d 1.07 and 1.08 genes might have more varieties. Regarding the Mal d 1.09 gene we have found that it has conservative sequences in different apple cultivars and does not have too many varieties.