The two factors defining male reproductive success in plants are pollen quantity and quality, but our knowledge about the importance of pollen quality is limited due to methodological constraints. Pollen quality in terms of chemical composition may be either genetically fixed for high performance independent of environmental conditions, or it may be plastic to maximize reproductive output under...

BACKGROUND few studies report clinical and aerobiological pollen data in the north-west of Spain, a region similar to northern and central Europe. Moreover, it is difficult to obtain patients' collaboration in filling out symptom cards. The aim of this study was to establish a relationship between pollen types and clinical data obtained through questionnaire and telephone calls. PATIENTS AND ...

Female reproductive success in females versus hermaphrodites has been well documented. However, documenting a potential advantage in male fertility of male versus hermaphrodite individuals in subdioecious species is also essential for understanding the evolutionary pathway toward dioecy from hermaphroditism via gynodioecy. Siring success in terms of fruit set, fruit mass, number of seeds and me...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Variation in inbreeding depression (δ) among individual plants is considered to play a central role in mating system evolution and population genetics. Moreover, such variation could be linked to individual susceptibility to pollen limitation (PL) because those individuals strongly affected by δ for seed production will require more outcross pollen for setting a given number...

Summary Introduction. Phleum pratense (Timothy grass) is the most frequent cause of grass allergy in Europe. Molecular-based allergy diagnostics have been recently introduced in the clinical practice, allowing to define and characterize exactly the sensitization profile. Aim of the study. The present study was aimed to investigate the possible relationships between Graminaceae pollen data and t...

Plant pollens and fungal spores are massively produced in natural habitats large-scaled agricultural areas, the airborne transported biomass can be accumulated on relatively large crop surfaces. A pollen grain contains a specific chemical composition quantity quality, highly varied among plant species. So, could provide species-specific nutrient supply for initial development trap. Thus, this i...