BACKGROUND Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCPsis) affects nearly one in six Japanese. Oral administration of Bifidobacterium longum BB536 has been shown to be effective in relieving JCPsis symptoms during the pollen season. METHODS This double- two-way crossover study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of BB536 on reducing symptoms in JCPsis patients exposed to Japanese cedar pollen (JCP) in a...

BACKGROUND The cultivation of saffron is expanding through the southeast of Iran, and allergy to saffron pollen occurs in workers involved in processing this plant. We aimed to clone, sequence and express a major allergen involved in saffron pollen allergy, and to compare the recombinant with the natural allergen. METHODS The N-terminal amino acid sequence of Cro s 1, an allergen from saffron...

Ploidy level is one of important factors for plant breeders; therefore models that can predict it are very practical. To estimate of ploidy levels in some species, hybrids and cultivars of Rosa, dimensions of over 500 pollens include pollen length, width and area measured at ABRII. The calculations were carried out in several stages. First, Ploidy levels were regressed with pollen dimensions, a...

Córdoba is one of the Spanish cities with the highest records of plane tree pollen grains in the air. Clinical studies have identified Platanus as a major cause of pollinosis. This fact provokes an important public health problem during early spring when these trees bloom. The objective of the study is to evaluate the correlation between airborne pollen counts and Pla a 1 aeroallergen concentra...

pollen from mesquite (prosopis juliflora) is one of the important causes of immediate hypersensitivity reactions in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. the aim of present study is to produce and purify the recombinant form of allergenic ole e 1-like protein from the pollen of this allergenic tree. immunological and cross-inhibition assays were performed for the evaluation of ige-bindin...

Hairdressers are frequently exposed to bleaching powder containing persulfates, a group of compounds that may induce hypersensitivity in the airways. The mechanism causing this reaction is not clear. The aim of this study was to identify changes in the nasal lavage fluid proteome after challenge with potassium persulfate in hairdressers with bleaching powder-associated rhinitis. Furthermore, we...

INTRODUCTION Exposure to airborne pollen from certain plants can cause allergic disease, but allergens can also be found in non-pollen-bearing fractions of ambient air. This may explain why the allergic response in susceptible patients does not always coincide with the presence and magnitude of airborne pollen counts. Plantago pollen is an important cause of pollinosis in northern Mediterranean...

Previous genetic studies have revealed that a pollen-specific calmodulin-binding protein, No Pollen Germination 1 (NPG1), is required for pollen germination. However, its mode of action is unknown. Here we report direct interaction of NPG1 with pectate lyase-like proteins (PLLs). A truncated form of AtNPG1 lacking the N-terminal tetratricopeptide repeat 1 (TPR1) failed to interact with PLLs, su...

To fuel their activities and rear their offspring, foraging bees must obtain a sufficient quality and quantity of nutritional resources from a diverse plant community. Pollen is the primary source of proteins and lipids for bees, and the concentrations of these nutrients in pollen can vary widely among host-plant species. Therefore we hypothesized that foraging decisions of bumble bees are driv...

The effects of sublethal pesticide exposure on queen emergence and virus titers were examined. Queen rearing colonies were fed pollen with chlorpyrifos (CPF) alone (pollen-1) and with CPF and the fungicide Pristine(®) (pollen-2). Fewer queens emerged when larvae from open foraging (i.e., outside) colonies were reared in colonies fed pollen-1 or 2 compared with when those larvae were reared in o...