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Whole Allergen

m10 Stemphylium herbarum

m10 Stemphylium herbarum Scientific Information

Type:

Whole Allergen

Display Name:

Stemphylium herbarum

Route of Exposure:

Inhalation

Family:

Pleosporaceae

Species:

herbarum

Latin Name:

Stemphylium herbarum

Other Names:

Pleospora herbarum, Stemphylium botryosum, leaf blight of onion

Summary

Stemphylium herbarum (Pleospora herbarum) is a ubiquitous mold of the order Pleosporales, mostly found in plant materials and soil worldwide. It is a well-known plant pathogen. The particles causing allergic reactions are spores found in the environment.

Stemphylium spp. may be involved in the development of asthma. Cross reactivity with other molds, especially if taxonomically close, may occur.

Allergen

Nature

Stemphylium herbarum is a ubiquitous mold of the Family Pleosporaceae; it is the anamorph (asexual form) of the fungus Pleospora herbarum (teleomorph, the sexual form) (1). This mold is a known plant pathogen, causing disease in a variety of plants including onions, tomatoes, durum wheat, lentils and dates (2-6). This mold produces dark conidiophores and the conidia (a type of spore) are round or oval (7, 8).

Stemphylium spp. spores could be detected all year round, though a seasonal peak was recorded in late summer/autumn and early spring (9-11). Stemphylium spp. and Pleospora herbarum spores were detected in outdoor and indoor air samples of primary schools (12), and both in urban and rural areas (11). A separate study reported that Stemphylium was more prevalent in natural areas and high locations (13). Pleospora has also been identified as one of the airborne fungi genera inside biofuel wood chip storage sites (14).

Taxonomy 

Taxonomic tree of Stemphylium genus  (2, 15)

Domain

Eukaryota

Kingdom

Fungi

Phylum

Ascomycota

Subphylum

Pezizomycotina

Class

Dothideomycetes

Order

Pleosporales

Family

Pleosporaceae

Genus

Stemphylium

Taxonomic tree of Stemphylium genus  (2, 15)

Tissue 

Pleospora herbarum is found as airborne spores, at approximately 1–2% of the total spores detected in air and dust samples (9, 11, 13). Stemphylium herbarum is able to release allergens from both germinated and ungerminated spores (16).

Epidemiology

Worldwide distribution 

There is a lack of specific reports of allergic disease attributed to Stemphylium spp.; however, its involvement in developing symptoms of asthma has been hypothesized (17).

Risk factors 

Being male and black ethnicity both appear to be risk factors for asthma and fungal sensitization (17).

Environmental Characteristics

Worldwide distribution 

Stemphylium herbarum has a worldwide distribution (2).

Route of Exposure

Main

Inhalation (18).

Detection

Main methods

Gravity-based petri plate method (12), Lanzoni and Burkard samplers (11).

Clinical Relevance

Asthma

An association between severe asthma and fungal sensitization was demonstrated in a study that included Stemphylium herbarum (17) Fungal extracts, including S. herbarum, have been found to be sensitizing agents in asthmatic children (19).

Diagnostics Sensitization

The presence of allergen-specific antibodies is usually determined by skin prick tests (SPTs) and serology for IgE (17-19). In a study of 307 asthmatic patients, 55.8% tested positive for S. herbarum-specific IgE (17). Stemphylium was among one of the most common agents of sensitization, with 86.6% positive reactions (20).

Prevention and Therapy

Allergen immunotherapy

Immunotherapy is currently not recommended for patients allergic to molds, due to complexities of the allergens and patient co-allergies (18).

Prevention strategies 

Avoidance is difficult to achieve (18) due to the range of  environments in which Stemphylium spp. can be found (2).

Molecular Aspects

Allergenic molecules

S. botryosum produces a 17–18 kDa allergen (21, 22).

Cross-reactivity

Cross-reactivity has been demonstrated to other molds. In a study carried out on 668 serum samples from patients which who had previously recorded at least one IgE positivity to fungal antigens, associations were observed between the patterns of IgE sensitization and fungal phylogenetic relationships. Using a panel of 17 fungal extracts including S. herbarum, some samples were only positive to one fungal species, whereas many were multi-sensitized. The results suggest that the associations are likely due to antigen cross-reactivity between fungal species, not uncommon in more closely related species (23). In another study, scientists were able to amplify an Alt a 1 analogue by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from Stemphylium spp. and one Pleospora herbarum isolate (24). A 17–18 kDa S. botryosum allergen reacted to rabbit IgE raised against the Alternaria alternata antigen Alt a 1 (21, 22).

Compiled By

Author: RubyDuke Communications

Reviewer: Dr. Christian  Fischer

 

Last reviewed:January 2022

References
  1. Woudenberg JHC, Hanse B, van Leeuwen GCM, Groenewald JZ, Crous PW. Stemphylium revisited. Studies in mycology. 2017;87:77-103.
  2. CABI. Pleospora herbarum (leaf blight of onion) Wallingford, UK2021 [cited 2021 14.12.21]. Available from: https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/42019.
  3. Yahia E, Kader A. Date (Phoenix dactylifera L.). 2011. p. 41-79.
  4. Fernandez MR, Knox RE. CHAPTER 4 - Diseases of Durum Wheat. In: Sissons M, Abecassis J, Marchylo B, Carcea M, editors. Durum Wheat (Second Edition): AACC International Press; 2012. p. 57-71.
  5. Blancard D. 2 - Diagnosis of Parasitic and Nonparasitic Diseases. In: Blancard D, editor. Tomato Diseases (Second Edition). San Diego: Academic Press; 2012. p. 35-411.
  6. Nleya T, Vandenberg A, Walley FL, Deneke D. Lentil: Agronomy. In: Wrigley C, Corke H, Seetharaman K, Faubion J, editors. Encyclopedia of Food Grains (Second Edition). Oxford: Academic Press; 2016. p. 223-30.
  7. Abubacker MN, Amatussalam A. Airborne biological materials: their identification, origin and impact on environment. Asian Journal of Environmental Science. 2011;6:1-11.
  8. Sutton D, Rinaldi M, Sanche S. Dematiaceous fungi. 2009. p. 329-54.
  9. Abdel-Hafez SII, Moubasher A-AH, Barakat A. Seasonal variations of fungi of outdoor air and sedimented dust at Assiut region, Upper Egypt. Grana. 1993;32(2):115-21.
  10. Hasnain SM, Al-Frayh A, Thorogood R, Harfi HA, Wilson JD. Seasonal Periodicities of Fungal Allergens in the Atmosphere of Riyadh. Annals of Saudi Medicine. 1989;9(4):337-43.
  11. Oliveira M, Ribeiro H, Delgado L, Fonseca J, Castel-Branco MG, Abreu I. Outdoor allergenic fungal spores: comparison between an urban and a rural area in northern Portugal. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. 2010;20(2):117-28.
  12. Imalı A, Koçer F, Yalçınkaya B. Mıcrofungus Flora of Indoor and Outdoor Aır in Prımary Schools, Çorum, Turkey. 2013;5:2274-8.
  13. Damialis A, Kaimakamis E, Konoglou M, Akritidis I, Traidl-Hoffmann C, Gioulekas D. Estimating the abundance of airborne pollen and fungal spores at variable elevations using an aircraft: how high can they fly? Scientific Reports. 2017;7(1):44535.
  14. Barontini M, Crognale S, Scarfone A, Gallo P, Gallucci F, Petruccioli M, et al. Airborne fungi in biofuel wood chip storage sites. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation. 2014;90:17–22.
  15. Uniprot.org. Taxonomy - Stemphylium callistephi 2021 [cited 2021 14.12.21]. Available from: https://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/119932.
  16. Green BJ, Mitakakis TZ, Tovey ER. Allergen detection from 11 fungal species before and after germination. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2003;111(2):285-9.
  17. Medrek SK, Kao CC, Yang DH, Hanania NA, Parulekar AD. Fungal Sensitization Is Associated with Increased Risk of Life-Threatening Asthma. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. 2017;5(4):1025-31.e2.
  18. Twaroch TE, Curin M, Valenta R, Swoboda I. Mold allergens in respiratory allergy: from structure to therapy. Allergy Asthma Immunol Res. 2015;7(3):205-20.
  19. Koivikko A, Viander M, Lanner A. Use of the extended Phadebas RAST panel in the diagnosis of mould allergy in asthmatic children. Allergy. 1991;46(2):85-91.
  20. Calhoun KH. Patterns of mold sensitivity in the subtropical Gulf Coast. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2004;130(3):306-11.
  21. Gutiérrez-Rodríguez A, Postigo I, Guisantes JA, Suñén E, Martínez J. Identification of allergens homologous to Alt a 1 from Stemphylium botryosum and Ulocladium botrytis. Med Mycol. 2011;49(8):892-6.
  22. Sáenz-de-Santamaría M, Postigo I, Gutierrez-Rodríguez A, Cardona G, Guisantes JA, Asturias J, et al. The major allergen of Alternaria alternata (Alt a 1) is expressed in other members of the Pleosporaceae family. Mycoses. 2006;49(2):91-5.
  23. Soeria-Atmadja D, Onell A, Borgå A. IgE sensitization to fungi mirrors fungal phylogenetic systematics. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010;125(6):1379-86.e1.
  24. Hong SG, Cramer RA, Lawrence CB, Pryor BM. Alt a 1 allergen homologs from Alternaria and related taxa: analysis of phylogenetic content and secondary structure. Fungal Genet Biol. 2005;42(2):119-29.