European Directive fragrances in natural products.

Information on the presence of European Directive fragrance (EUF) allergens in plants and foods is important for numerous reasons. If an individual is allergic to an EUF and is avoiding fragrance, it is possible that they may still be exposed to the allergen in a natural product. In addition, because many of these allergens are also found in foods, it is possible that ingestion of a food containing the allergen may induce systemic contact allergy. Finally, individuals with lip dermatitis may react to contact with foods that contain the allergen. In this article, we have used the data available to identify which plants and foods contain EUF. When available, concentrations of EUF in natural products are provided. The goal of this article is to narrow down the list of botanicals to avoid for specific EUF allergies.

Balsam of Peru: past and future.

Balsam of Peru (BOP) is a well-known contact allergen that is one of the most prevalent in the United States. For some patients allergic to BOP, external avoidance of fragrance is not enough to eliminate their dermatitis. A BOP avoidance diet has been shown to help many of these patients. This article reviews BOP allergens found in food. A special patch test series of allergens found in BOP along with data regarding which foods contain specific BOP constituents makes it possible to design potential targeted, refined, and simplified diets for BOP systemic contact dermatitis.

Analysis of periplasmic sensor domains from Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans 2CP-C: structure of one sensor domain from a histidine kinase and another from a chemotaxis protein.

Anaeromyxobacter dehalogenans is a δ-proteobacterium found in diverse soils and sediments. It is of interest in bioremediation efforts due to its dechlorination and metal-reducing capabilities. To gain an understanding on A. dehalogenans' abilities to adapt to diverse environments we analyzed its signal transduction proteins. The A. dehalogenans genome codes for a large number of sensor histidine kinases (HK) and methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCP); among these 23 HK and 11 MCP proteins have a sensor domain in the periplasm. These proteins most likely contribute to adaptation to the organism's surroundings. We predicted their three-dimensional folds and determined the structures of two of the periplasmic sensor domains by X-ray diffraction. Most of the domains are predicted to have either PAS-like or helical bundle structures, with two predicted to have solute-binding protein fold, and another predicted to have a 6-phosphogluconolactonase like fold. Atomic structures of two sensor domains confirmed the respective fold predictions. The Adeh_2942 sensor (HK) was found to have a helical bundle structure, and the Adeh_3718 sensor (MCP) has a PAS-like structure. Interestingly, the Adeh_3718 sensor has an acetate moiety bound in a binding site typical for PAS-like domains. Future work is needed to determine whether Adeh_3718 is involved in acetate sensing by A. dehalogenans.