Abstract
BackgroundAmbrosia artemisiifolia L. is one of the most important sources of allergenic pollen in many regions of the world. Its health impact increased over the last decades and is expected to further increase in consequence of climate change. However little information is available on the specific role played by temperature on allergy rising. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of temperature on A. artemisiifolia growth, flowering and pollen allergenicity, the major plant functional traits influencing the prevalence and severity of pollinosis.ResultsPlants were grown in controlled conditions at three thermal regimes: “Low” (LT: 18–14 °C light-dark), “Intermediate” (IT: 24–20 °C light-dark) and “High” (HT: 30–26 °C light-dark). During plant development, plant vegetative and reproductive morpho-functional traits were measured and, at the end of plant life-cycle, mature pollen was collected and analyzed for its allergenic properties by slot blot, 1D- and 2D-western blot (by using a pool of sera from ragweed-allergic patients) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. A. artemisiifolia showed a great development plasticity leading to a broad temperature tolerance. Shoot architecture, growth rate, number of male inflorescence and pollen allergenicity were temperature-responsive traits. Pollen allergenicity increased in parallel with temperature and differences were related to allergen synthesis and Amb a 1-IgE-binding. Flavonoids whose concentration in pollen decreased with the increase of temperature, were recognized as the cause of the negligible Amb a 1-IgE binding in LT pollen.ConclusionsResults show that temperature governs plant development and pollen allergenicity influencing the temporal and spatial magnitude of subject exposure to allergens.
Highlights
Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. is one of the most important sources of allergenic pollen in many regions of the world
Plants grown at Low Temperature (LT) showed the highest number of male inflorescences but a significant late flowering (4–5 weeks later than plants grown at IT and High Temperature (HT))
In our experiment A. artemisiifolia showed a great development plasticity leading to a broad temperature tolerance
Summary
Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. is one of the most important sources of allergenic pollen in many regions of the world. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of temperature on A. artemisiifolia growth, flowering and pollen allergenicity, the major plant functional traits influencing the prevalence and severity of pollinosis. (common ragweed), a North American native species, alien and invasive in Europe, is one of the most important seasonal allergenic plant in many regions of the world [1]. Climate changes have prolonged the ragweed flowering season, and increased the growth of the plant and the pollen production, extending, on the whole, the geographical area and the period/intensity of exposure to its allergens. Greenhouse experimental simulations of climate change by increasing temperature and/or CO2 were demonstrated to determine an earlier flowering, larger floral numbers and a greater pollen production in common ragweed [6, 7]. Similar effects were observed by Ziska et al [8, 9] and by Rodríguez-Rajo et al [10] for ragweed plants grown at urban locations where the concentration of CO2 and temperature were higher than in rural areas
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