Royal Jelly Protein Inhibits Growth of American Foulbrood Bacteria

Towards Functional Proteomics of Minority Component of Honeybee Royal Jelly: The Effect of Post-Translational Modifications on the Antimicrobial Activity of Apalbumin2
PROTEOMICS, 25 Mar 2009

This study illustrates multifunctionality of proteins of honeybee royal jelly (RJ) and how their neofunctionalization result from various PTMs of maternal proteins.

Major proteins of RJ, designated as apalbumins belong to a protein family consisting of nine members with Mr of 49-87 kDa and they are accompanied by high number of minority homologs derived from maternal apalbumins.

In spite of many data on diversity of apalbumins, the molecular study of their individual minority homologous is still missing. This work is a contribution to functional proteomics of second most abundant protein of RJ apalbumin2 (Mr 52.7 kDa).

We have purified a minority protein from RJ; named as apalbumin2a, differ from apalbumin2 in Mr (48.6 kDa), in N-terminal amino acids sequences - ENSPRN and in N-linked glycans. Characterization of apalbumin2a by LC-MALDI TOF/TOF MS revealed that it is a minority homolog of the major basic royal jelly protein, apalbumin2, carrying two fully occupied N-glycosylation sites, one with high-mannose structure, HexNAc2Hex9, and another carrying complex type antennary structures, HexNAc4Hex3 and HexNAc5Hex4.

We have found that apalbumin2a inhibit growth of Paenibacillus larvae. The obtained data call attention to functional plasticity of RJ proteins with potential impact on functional proteomics in medicine.