BACKGROUND Pollinosis from Amaranthus retroflexus pollen is a common cause of respiratory allergy in Iran with a high positive rate (68.8%) among Iranian allergic patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the allergenicity of the A. retroflexus pollen profilin. METHODS Using sera from twelve patients allergic to A. retroflexus pollen, IgE-binding proteins from the A. retroflexus ...

Germination of Amaranthus retroflexus L. seeds imbibed at 40 C is enhanced by establishing the active form of phytochrome before a reduction in temperature to <32 C. The half-time for effectiveness of the lower temperature is about 8 min at 15 C. Isolated membrane fragments of A. retroflexus seeds associated with the fluorescent probe 1,8-anilino-naphthalene sulfonate (ANS) increase in structur...

Weed plants characteristic for potato and hop fields have not been considered in the past as potential hosts that could transmit and lead to spreading of potato spindle tuber (PSTVd) and hop stunt (HSVd) viroids, respectively. To gain insight into this problem, we biolistically inoculated these weed plants with viroid populations either as RNA or as cDNA. New potential viroid host species, coll...

Coumarin is a natural compound well known for its phytotoxic potential. In the search for new herbicidal compounds to manage weeds, three synthetic derivatives bearing the coumarin scaffold (1-3), synthesized by a carbonylative organometallic approach, were in vitro assayed on germination and root growth of two noxious weeds, Amaranthus retroflexus and Echinochloa crus-galli. Moreover, the synt...

It is commonly recognized that light-sensitive seeds require a period of imbibition before full promotion of germination by a light stimulus can be attained. Yet little work describes the nature of these preliminary events. Of the several major limitations that may be involved, clearly the rehydration (or activation) of phytochrome and the system with which it interacts are the chief ones to co...

Different formae speciales of Fusarium oxysporum are the main causal agent of Fusarium wilts. In 2008 and 2009 we collected F. oxysporum samples from symptomless Abutilon theophrasti, xanthium strumarium, Chenopodium album, Matricaria perforata, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, Polygonum lapathifolium, Sonchus arvensis, Amaranthus blitoides, Amaranthus retroflexus, Datura stramonium, Sorghum halepense ...