Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most important crops in the world. In this study, 13 agronomic traits of a recombinant inbred line population that was derived from the cross between Mo17 and Huangzao4 were investigated in maize: ear diameter, ear length, ear axis diameter, ear weight, plant height, ear height, days to pollen shed (DPS), days to silking (DS), the interval between DPS and DS, 1...

Pollen competitive ability depends on the innate capacity of a pollen donor to produce pollen that reaches the ovules fast, but could also be a consequence of the ability to interfere with pollen from other donors. In a greenhouse study on Viola tricolor, we examined the relative importance of both of these effects by performing crosses where we varied the pollen load composition of two donors....

BACKGROUND Pollen information is indispensable for allergic individuals and clinicians. This study aimed to develop forecasting models for the total annual count of airborne pollen grains based on data monitored over the last 20 years at the Mie Chuo Medical Center, Tsu, Mie, Japan. METHODS Airborne pollen grains were collected using a Durham sampler. Total annual pollen count and pollen coun...

The number of individuals allergic to plant pollen has recently been on a constant increase. The knowledge of diurnal distribution and abundance of allergenic pollen types, their patterns and response to source position and weather is useful to correlate hay fever symptoms with the presence of allergenic pollen in the atmosphere. The aim of this study was to determine diurnal distribution of to...

Pollen-stigma interactions are essential for pollen germination. The highly regulated process of pollen germination includes pollen adhesion, hydration, and germination on the stigma. However, the internal signaling of pollen that regulates pollen-stigma interactions is poorly understood. KINβγ is a plant-specific subunit of the SNF1-related protein kinase 1 complex which plays important roles ...

OBJECTIVE Allergic disease caused by airborne pollen is a major health problem in China. Intensive study on pollen allergens can be of great help for preventing and treating pollinosis. Four aspects of the study on pollen allergens in China including major allergic pollen in our country, analysis and purification of pollen allergen composition, recombinant pollen allergens and clinical applicat...

Pollen tube growth is dependent on a dynamic actin cytoskeleton, suggesting that actin-regulating proteins are involved. We have examined the regulation of the lily pollen-specific actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF) LlADF1. Its actin binding and depolymerizing activity is pH sensitive, inhibited by certain phosphoinositides, but not controlled by phosphorylation. Compared with its F-actin bindin...

The understanding of airborne pollen transportation is crucial for the reconstruction of the paleoenvironment. Under favorable conditions, a considerable amount of long-distance-transported pollen can be deposited far from its place of origin. In extreme arid regions, in most cases, such situations occur and increase the difficulty to interpret fossil pollen records. In this study, three sets o...