Identification and purification of a 16-kDa allergen from Psoroptes ovis (Acarina: Psoroptidae).

Psoroptes ovis, (Hering), the sheep scab mite, is the causative agent of an allergic dermatitis of sheep and cattle. Recent studies of the host immune response to this ectoparasite have provided information that suggests control may be achieved by immune intervention. A significant effector in protection of the host from clinical lesions is host behavioral grooming. Host grooming is believed to be intensified by a pruritic immediate hypersensitivity response to mite allergens. Knowledge of potential P. ovis allergens is limited. This article reports on the identification and SDS-PAGE continuous elution purification of a 16-kDa polypeptide that elicits immediate type hypersensitivity in calves and has sequence homology with known group II mite allergens, Lep d 2 of Lepidoglyphus destructor (Schrank), and Der f II of Dermatophagoides farinae (Hughes). This P. ovis allergen appears to be a good vaccine candidate for further study and cloning.