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. 2021 Aug 6:2:700533.
doi: 10.3389/falgy.2021.700533. eCollection 2021.

The COMPARE Database: A Public Resource for Allergen Identification, Adapted for Continuous Improvement

Ronald van Ree  1 , Dexter Sapiter Ballerda  2 , M Cecilia Berin  3 , Laurent Beuf  4 , Alexander Chang  2 , Gabriele Gadermaier  5 , Paul A Guevera  2 , Karin Hoffmann-Sommergruber  6 , Emir Islamovic  7 , Liisa Koski  8 , John Kough  9 , Gregory S Ladics  10 , Scott McClain  11 , Kyle A McKillop  2 , Shermaine Mitchell-Ryan  8 , Clare A Narrod  2 , Lucilia Pereira Mouriès  8 , Syril Pettit  8 , Lars K Poulsen  12 , Andre Silvanovich  13 , Ping Song  14 , Suzanne S Teuber  15   16   17 , Christal Bowman  18
Affiliations

The COMPARE Database: A Public Resource for Allergen Identification, Adapted for Continuous Improvement

Ronald van Ree et al. Front Allergy. .

Abstract

Motivation: The availability of databases identifying allergenic proteins via a transparent and consensus-based scientific approach is of prime importance to support the safety review of genetically-modified foods and feeds, and public safety in general. Over recent years, screening for potential new allergens sequences has become more complex due to the exponential increase of genomic sequence information. To address these challenges, an international collaborative scientific group coordinated by the Health and Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI), was tasked to develop a contemporary, adaptable, high-throughput process to build the COMprehensive Protein Allergen REsource (COMPARE) database, a publicly accessible allergen sequence data resource along with bioinformatics analytical tools following guidelines of FAO/WHO and CODEX Alimentarius Commission. Results: The COMPARE process is novel in that it involves the identification of candidate sequences via automated keyword-based sorting algorithm and manual curation of the annotated sequence entries retrieved from public protein sequence databases on a yearly basis; its process is meant for continuous improvement, with updates being transparently documented with each version; as a complementary approach, a yearly key-word based search of literature databases is added to identify new allergen sequences that were not (yet) submitted to protein databases; in addition, comments from the independent peer-review panel are posted on the website to increase transparency of decision making; finally, sequence comparison capabilities associated with the COMPARE database was developed to evaluate the potential allergenicity of proteins, based on internationally recognized guidelines, FAO/WHO and CODEX Alimentarius Commission.

Keywords: GMO; allergen database; allergenicity assessment; bioinformatics; risk assessment; sequence comparison.

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Conflict of interest statement

LB was employee of Limagrain Field Seeds. EI was employee of BASF Corporation. GL was employee of DuPont Co., Nutrition and Biosciences. SM was employee of Syngenta Crop protection. AS was employee of Bayer Crop Science. PS was employee of Corteva Agriscience LLC. CB was employed by Bayer Crop Science. GS was employed by company IFF Inc. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Summary of the COMPARE Peer Review Cycle and Workflow for each annual update.
Figure 2
Figure 2
COMPARE 2017 screening process quantitative outcomes (supporting information provided in Appendix-2 of the Supplementary Materials).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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