The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between the distribution of hay-fever patients in the city of Córdoba, south-western Iberian Peninsula, and the specific atmospheric biological content originating from local sources. Four different districts were established in the metropolitan area of the city, according to vegetational and urbanistic characteristics. Air samples were take...

A method for the preparation of developmentally staged microspores and young pollen from maize (Zea mays) has been devised. The preparations are of sufficient purity and quantity for biochemical analysis, including the analysis of steady-state protein and RNA populations associated with each stage. A major transition in protein populations occurs during the developmental period that encompasses...

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF THE STUDY Some floral traits could be selected by pollinators and nonpollinator agents, and studying the floral traits shaped by physical agents could reveal adaptive mechanisms to the environment. We explored the adaptive significance of the change in floral orientation, from pendulous flowers to erect fruits that have a persistent calyx, in Anisodus luridus, a perenni...

Mature pollen from most plant species is metabolically quiescent; however, after pollination, it germinates quickly and gives rise to a pollen tube to transport sperms into the embryo sac. Because methods for collecting a large amount of in vitro germinated pollen grains for transcriptomics and proteomics studies from model plants of Arabidopsis and rice are not available, molecular information...

BACKGROUND Turgor pressure is an essential feature of plants; however, whereas its physiological importance is unequivocally recognized, its relevance to development is often reduced to a role in cell elongation. SCOPE This review surveys the roles of turgor in development, the molecular mechanisms of turgor regulation and the methods used to measure turgor and related quantities, while also ...

Pollen tube growth is based on transport of secretory vesicles into the apical region where they fuse with a small area of the plasma membrane. The amount of secretion greatly exceeds the quantity of membrane required for growth. Mechanisms of membrane retrieval have recently been demonstrated and partially characterized using FM (Fei Mao) dyes or charged nanogold. Both these probes reveal that...

The bottom-up effects of plant food quality and quantity can affect the growth, survival, and reproduction of herbivores. The larvae of solitary bee pollinators, consumers of nectar and pollen, are also herbivores. Although pollen quantity and quality are known to be important for larval growth, little is known about how nectar quality limits solitary bee performance. By adding different levels...

a lack of adequate annual chilling in temperate zone fruit growing trees, especially pistachio is a main problem observed in many areas with partly warm winters. usually this phenomenon results in disorders in vegetative and reproductive structures, decrease in production of pollen, falling of flower buds and decrease in or loss of fruit set. presently the use of some substitute chemical compou...

BACKGROUND Ragweed allergy represents a challenge for allergists due to its increase in some geographic areas, mainly northern Italy. OBJECTIVES To compare two allergy centers in northern Italy by analyzing both the pollen count and the patient characteristics (sensitization and allergy prevalence) over a 10-year period. METHODS Pollen counts for 10 years (2004-2013) were evaluated and comp...