We screened for pollen-specific kinase genes, which are potential signal transduction components of pollen-pistil interactions, and isolated two structurally related receptor-like kinases (RLKs) from tomato, LePRK1 and LePRK2. These kinases are similar to a pollen-expressed RLK from petunia, but they are expressed later during pollen development than is the petunia RLK. The abundance of LePRK2 ...

REVIEWERS COMMENTS. Although it is not commercially available in the United States, SLIT for pollen allergy has gained widespread acceptance in Europe, and evidence supporting its safety and efficacy is accumulating. The promise of SLIT is that it might provide a safer and more-convenient alternative to subcutaneous immunotherapy while maintaining efficacy. Much of the literature supporting its...

The molecular basis of recognition between plant cells is incompletely understood. Some principles established for recognition between animal cells may well apply to plant cell recognition, although, in contrast to animal cells, plant cells are encased by cell walls that play an active role in plant cell-cell recognition. The interaction that controls fertilization in flowering plants involves ...

BACKGROUND Some studies have suggested that specific immunotherapy (SIT) may cause de novo sensitization to allergenic proteins to which patients were not previously allergic. This event might theoretically involve cross-reacting pollen allergens, such as profilin or polcalcins, posing a risk of SIT-induced polysensitization to pollens in patients who were originally monosensitized. OBJECTIVE...

Sublingual immunotherapy is much safer than conventional percutaneous immunotherapy. This is the only treatment available which can completely cure the disease. A randomized, placebocontrolled, double-blind study has revealed that sublingual immunotherapy is both effective and safe for the patient with this pollinosis [3]. Only recently, standardized Japanese cedar pollen extract became availab...

Animals collecting resources that are fixed in space but replenish over time, such as floral nectar and pollen, often establish small foraging areas to which they return faithfully. Some repeatedly visit a set of patches in a significantly predictable sequence (socalled ‘‘trapline foraging’’), which may allow them to focus on more profitable patches in their foraging areas. The functional signi...

Many insects which gather nectar or pollen exhibit flower constancy, a learned fidelity to a particular species of plant. Recent studies suggest that foraging insects may use a perceptual mechanism akin to a search image to detect flowers, in a manner analogous to the way that predators search for prey. This has emerged as an alternative (but not mutually exclusive) explanation for flower const...

in present study different protein measurement methods are evaluated on the allergenic extract of chenopodium album pollen, which was previously prepared in our laboratory and applied in skin prick testing in comparison with a commer¬cial extract. the protein content of similar amounts of these two extracts which had caused similar skin reactions were measured with different protein assays such...