Honey bees (Apis mellifera) collect and store both honey and pollen in preserved forms. Pollen storage involves the addition of honey or nectar and oral secretions to pollen granules. It is controversial whether the duration of pollen storage alters the palatability or nutritive value of the pollen storage medium. We examined how bees utilize different-aged stored pollen during an extended poll...

During pollen development each product of meiosis undergoes a stereotypical pattern of cell divisions to give rise to a three-celled gametophyte, the pollen grain. First an asymmetric mitosis generates a larger vegetative cell and a smaller generative cell, then the generative cell undergoes a second mitosis to give rise to two sperm cells. It is unknown how this pattern of cell divisions is co...

Pollen tubes are an excellent system for studying the cellular dynamics and complex signaling pathways that coordinate polarized tip growth. Although several signaling mechanisms acting in the tip-growing pollen tube have been described, our knowledge on the subcellular and molecular events during pollen germination and growth site selection at the pollen plasma membrane is rather scarce. To si...

Pollen from three S-genotypes of Nicotiana alata was grown in vitro in the presence of S-glycoproteins isolated from styles of the same three genotypes. Pollen germination was not affected by the presence of the S-glycoproteins, but pollen tube growth of all genotypes was inhibited. S2 pollen was preferentially inhibited by the S2-glycoprotein and S3 pollen by the S3-glycoprotein. The S6-glycop...

three different concentrations (10, 20 and 30 ppm) of the dry propolis and pollen extracts were applied in double distilled water. biochemical and hematological parameters in blood of rainbow trout (oncorhynchus mykiss) treated to various propolis and pollen concentrations (10, 20 and 30 ppm) for 96 h were determined.  fish treated to 20 and 30 ppm of propolis extract presented significant incr...

in 2007 and 2008, the influence of pollen source on the shell and kernel traits of resulting seeds and on fruit set was examined to evaluate the potential for xenia or metaxenia in persian walnut. pistillate flowers of ‘jamal’, ‘chandler’, ‘hartley’ and ‘pedro’ were crossed with the pollen of ‘serr’, ‘z60’ and ‘damavand’. the pistillate flowers on each female parent were covered about one week ...

BACKGROUND Beech and oak pollen are potential allergen sources with a world-wide distribution. OBJECTIVE We aimed to characterize the allergen profile of beech and oak pollen and to study cross-reactivities with birch and grass pollen allergens. METHODS Sera from tree pollen-allergic patients with evidence for beech and oak pollen sensitization from Basel, Switzerland, (n=23) and sera from ...

Germination ability and airborne counts of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) pollen were studied during the spring of 1993 at Turku in southern Finland (60 degrees 32' N, 22 degrees 28' E) and at Utsjoki in northern Finland (69 degrees 45' N, 27 degrees 01' E). Pollen waas trapped from the beginning of May to the end of June in a high-volume air sampler. Germination tests were performed to deter...

Background: Alongside hazel, alder and birch pollen allergies, ash pollen allergy is a relevant cause of hay fever during spring in the European region. For some considerable time, ash pollen allergy was not routinely investigated and its clinical relevance may well have been underestimated, particularly since ash and birch tree pollination times are largely the same. Ash pollen extracts are no...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Exposure to higher-than-optimal temperatures reduces crop yield and quality, mainly due to sensitivity of developing pollen grains. The mechanisms maintaining high pollen quality under heat-stress conditions are poorly understood. Our recently published data indicate high heat-stress-induced expression of ethylene-responsive genes in tomato pollen, indicating ethylene involv...