In spite of the low atmospheric pollen levels, Artemisia sensitisation and allergy has been reported widely. The aim of the study was to determine the length of pollen season, intradiurnal, daily and monthly pollen variation, and the effect of some meteorological parameters on atmospheric pollen concentrations in Central Croatia. Seven-day Hirst volumetric pollen and spore traps were used for p...

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 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...

Higher “plants minimize their exposure to pollen from diverse species by precise regulation of flowering time, development of floral organs, and interactions with specific pollinators. These measures do not guarantee success, however, because of the vast quantities of pollen in the environment. Consequently, to ensure that only the appropriate sperm are delivered to the eggs, many plants have e...

We conducted an atmospheric pollen survey using a Durham sampler from 1983 through 1998 in Toyama City, Japan. We investigated yearly changes in the pollen season of Japanese cedar Cryptomeria japonica and analyzed the relationships between climatic factors and changes in the pollen counts. The results were as follows: (1) The first day of the Japanese cedar pollen season advanced from mid-Marc...

Hypothesis: Sex allocation theory predicts that the pollen–ovule ratio should decrease linearly with increasing pollen size among seed plants (Charnov, 1982). Data examined: We retrieved data for pollen–ovule ratio, pollen size, pollen grain number, and mating system from published literature for 311 angiosperm plant species. Methods: We used model II regressions on cross-species data as well a...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Pollen grains are subject to intense dehydration before dispersal. They rehydrate after landing on a stigma or when placed in humid environment by absorbing water from the stigma or surroundings. Resulting fluctuations in water content cause pollen grains to undergo significant changes in volume. Thus, morphological or structural adaptations might exist to help pollen adjus...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Pollen size varies greatly among flowering plant species and has been shown to influence the delivery of sperm cells to the eggs. Relatively little is known, however, about the functional significance of within-species genetic variation in pollen size. This study tests whether pollen size influences the relative siring success of a pollen donor during in vivo pollen competi...

Tropical paleoecologists use a combination of mud-water interface and modern pollen rain samples (local samples of airborne pollen) to interpret compositional changes within fossil pollen records. Taxonomic similarities between the composition of modern assemblages and fossil samples are the basis of reconstructing paleoclimates and paleoenvironments. Surface sediment samples reflect a time-ave...