Dry Pollen Research Articles

The Effects of SO2 on in vitro Forest Tree Pollen Germination and Tube Elongation

AbstractThe effects of SO2 on in vitro pollen germination and tube elongation were examined for Populus deltoides (Bartr.), Pinus resinosa (Ait.), Pinus nigra (Arnold), and Picea pungens (Engelm.). Comparisons were made between pollen fumigated in a dry condition and then placed on the germinating media, and moist pollen fumigated while on the germinating media.Moist P. deltoides pollen germination was significantly reduced at SO2 concentrations of 0.75 ppm and above. Populus deltoides pollen tube elongation was more sensitive to SO2 exposure and highly significant decreases in tube length occurred at 0.30 ppm for 4 hours. Tube elongation decreased linearly with increases in SO2 concentration. Frequent bursting of pollen tubes occurred at SO2 concentrations greater than or equal to 0.3 ppm for 4 hours.Exposure to SO2 caused similar effects on pollen germination and tube elongation for Pinus resinosa, Pinus nigra, and Picea pungens. Moist pollen was far more sensitive than dry pollen to SO2 exposure. A 4‐hour exposure to 1.4 ppm SO2 severely restricted moist pollen germination and tube elongation of the three conifer species. However, a similar exposure to 10 ppm SO2 had no effect on dry pollen of the three species.Absorption of SO2 resulted in an acidification of the germination media. Germination trials on acidified media indicated that the resultant acidification could account for much of the reduced germination and tube elongation in P. deltoides but could not adequately explain the reduced conifer pollen germination and tube elongation.

Allergy diagnosis with the radioallergosorbent test: A comparison with the results of skin and provocation tests in an unselected group of children with asthma and hay fever

The radioallergosorbent test (RAST) has been used for in vitro diagnosis of asthma and hay fever in children as an integrated part of the routine procedure for allergy diagnosis. A positive RAST test was combined with a positive prick test in 196 235 (80 per cent) tests and with a positive provocation test in 163 182 (90 per cent) tests. When the provocation test was positive to dry pollen, the stock solution ( 1 10 w./v. or 10,000 PNU) of the allergen extract RAST was quite often negative, a fact that explains the lower degree of correlation for a negative RAST test. A comparison between the prick test and the provocation test revealed a high proportion, 54 146 (37 per cent), of positive prick tests that could not be confirmed by the provocation test. RAST is a simple, reliable test for IgE antibodies that is very useful for in vitro diagnosis of atopic allergy on a routine basis. RAST is harmless and less traumatic than skin testing and therefore suitable for use even on very small children. The information obtained on the patient's hypersensitivity is more relevant than that from regular skin testing, probably comparable to skin test titration with selected allergens but not quite as good as provocation testing of the shock organ involved. Whenever a provocation test cannot be performed for each suspected allergen, an RAST test, possibly completed with a prick test, is recommended.

Microsporogenesis and pollen formation in lodgepole pine

Microsporogenesis and pollen formation of three coastal and two interior lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Dougl.) trees, and microstrobili of the interior trees were studied. Microspore mother cells were at pachytene when first observed and they remained at pachytene until the end of March in the interior trees and until mid-April in the coastal trees. The stages from pachytene to pollen shedding took 1 month in the coastal and interior trees. Several abnormalities were found in chromosome behavior, cell wall formation, and pollen grains. The percentage of abnormalities was higher in the interior trees than in the coastal trees. Abnormalities in chromosome movement seem to be genetically influenced and may be attributed to the large chromosomes, and to the prolonged low temperatures during meiosis and pollen formation. For interior lodgepole pine, the average number of microstrobili per shoot is 19.6 with 8.3 bud scales per microstrobilus, 93.3 microsporophylls per microstrobilus, and 2491 pollen grains per microsporangium. It is estimated that each microstrobilus produces about 465 000 pollen grains and each shoot produces about 9 million. There are about 33.5 million pollen grains per gram of dry pollen in lodgepole pine.

Effects of Attractants and Phagostimulants in Pollen and Pollen Supplement on the Feeding Behaviour of Honeybees in the Hive

SummaryThe source of the stimuli which attract bees to almond pollen was found to occur in a benzene extract of the pollen, referred to as the “attractant fraction”. When a pollen supplement containing this fraction was compared with untreated pollen supplement, it was preferred by more than 90% of the bees counted.Pollen with added fructose-glucose syrup was more attractive than a pollen with water only, which in turn was more attractive than dry pollen. Similarly, pollen supplement plus the attractant fraction was more attractive when mixed with fructose-glucose syrup than when mixed with water alone. Pollen supplement containing the attractant fraction and sucrose was as attractive as one in which the sugars were sucrose, fructose and glucose in equal weights, but more bees fed on the supplement containing the three sugars than on one that contained only fructose and glucose. There was no significant difference between the numbers of bees counted on pollen supplement containing honey, or sucrose, or fructose and glucose in equal proportions.

A technique for intense radiolabelling of pollen and pollen extract with 99mTc

Methods for radiolabelling Poa praetensis whole pollen grains and pollen extract with 99mTc are described. Structurally intact and antigenically potent dry pollen grains with specific activities as high as 4.2 mc. per milligram pollen were obtained. The radiolabel is apparently confined to the nucleophilic groups of pollen outer wall. An almost identical procedure may be used for radiolabelling pollen extract.

Structural stabilization for electron microscopy of pollen from herbarium specimens

Abstract The rehydration of dried pollen and spores is a common technique to obtain information on nuclear condition, cytoplasmic storage materials, the intine and other aspects of pollen morphology when fresh material is unavailable. Pollen grains are rehydrated and consequently expanded by most aqueous solutions although electron microscopical examination will reveal considerable variation both in stainability and quality of expansion following embedding. That variation, we suggest, is due to substances extracted during hydration and processing. Rehydration of herbarium material with aldehyde solutions containing cations known to stabilize mucosubstances has greatly improved staining and recovery of shape equivalent to fresh pollen of Nymphoides and Menyanthes (Menyanthaceae). It is our contention that rehydration of dry pollen with attention to the stabilization of mucopolysaccharides substantially increases the information available from herbarium material and should supplement KOH and acetolyzed spec...

Far-red light effect on ultraviolet light induced chromatid aberrations in pollen tubes of Tradescantia

A total dose of 7·65 × 10 5 erg cm −2 of far-red light (730 nm) was administered immediately after a total dose of 10 6 erg cm −2 of ultraviolet light (253 nm) treatment to mature dry pollen of Tradescantia paludosa . Three control groups were maintained: UV alone (UV), far-red alone (FR), and dark control (DC), in order to determine the effect of far-red light on UVinduced chromatid aberrations (UV+FR). Chromatid aberrations, including exchanges, chromatid and isochromatid breaks, were scored from metaphase figures of 18 hr old pollen tube culture grown on lactose agar medium supplemented with 0·02% colchicine. The average results of duplicated experiments indicated that the UV + FR group had about 46 per cent lower aberration rate than the UV group, while the FR and DC groups yielded similar background aberration rates. The lower rate of aberration in UV+FR group was postulated to be either the result of mitotic cessation for UV+FR induced aberrant cells which therefore failed to reach metaphase stage to be scored for aberrations, or far-red light enhanced reparation of UV-induced breakage.

Boron dependence of the genetic radiosensitivity during thermal neutron irradiation

A modification of the ratio between the two stable isotopes 10B and 11B present in a material exposed to thermal neutrons entails a change in the total dose received, as a consequence of the capture reaction 10B ( n, α) 7Li. The genetic effects of this dose change were measured in the F 1 progeny of a cross between two Lycopersicon species which differ for the whole genotype including specific marker genes. Untreated plants, homozygous recessive for these genes, were pollinated with irradiated dry pollen which had been collected from dominant individuals cultivated with nutrient solutions containing respectively 91% and 5% 10B. For eleven criteria, the magnitude of the genetic effects (probably deletions) induced by irradiation was found to be modified by the boron treatment in a proportion which ranged from 4 to 65%, depending upon the criterion considered. The mutation frequency at specific nuclear sites was less boron-dependent than the frequency of non-specific mutations. This finding is in agreement with the hypothesis that boron is preferentially located at some distance from the cell nucleus.

The Relative Biological Efficiency of Gamma Rays and Fission Neutrons in Plant Species with Different Nuclear and Chromosome Volumes

Young seedlings of five plant species (Vicia faba, Pisum sativum, Helianthus annuus, Raphanus sativus, Arabidopsis thaliana) with widely different nuclear and interphase chromosome volumes (ICV) were acutely irradiated with various doses of60 Co gamma rays and fission neutrons. Meristematic shoot apices of control plants were fixed at the time of irradiation, and interphase nuclear and chromosome volumes were calculated from measurements of nuclear diameters. The relation between nuclear or chromosome volume and radiosensitivity as well as the possible influence of differences in these volumes on RBE has been studied. Radiation injury was evaluated on the basis of plant survival, plant dry weight, plant height, and pollen abortion. Dose-effect curves were obtained from the two kinds of radiations; the doses necessary to produce a 50% effect were calculated for each species and each end point used. The doses required for a 50% effect were highest for survival, lowest (and about the same) for dry weight and...

Stamen number and pollen size in levo- and dextro-rotary flowers of Bombacaceae

With the exception of one species, the 13 species of Bombacaceae studied at Calcutta produced left- and right-spiralled flowers in almost equal proportions. The exceptional species, Bombax ceiba, produced significantly more left-spiralled than right-spiralled flowers. Two species produced more stamens in their left-spiralled flowers. The sizes of dry pollen grains from the two kinds of flowers did not differ significantly from each other for any species, although the water-soaked pollen grains of Bombax ceiba were significantly larger in the case of the left-spiralled flowers than their counterpart. The correlation coefficient between the size of dry pollen grains and the number of stamens per flower is not significant.

Effects of x-rays on frequency of mutations in hydrated wild-type tomato pollen

Wild-type tomato pollen was treated at 2 temperatures, subjected to 5 moisture treatments and 5 X-ray exposures. In addition, pollen treated as above was stored dry for 1 day before pollination. The major problem was to evaluate the effects of X-rays on the frequency of mutations in hydrated pollen. Here, response was measured using these 5 criteria: (1) seed set, (2) R 1 seed germination, (3) R 1 phenotypic changes, (4) R 1 pollen fertility and (5) R 2 mutations from R 1 plants. The data on seed set supported the hypothesis that: ( a) Seed set was decreased with an increase in dose when pollen was treated at 25 °C. However, seed set was generally higher when pollen was treated at 0 °C. ( b) Treated dry pollen set less seed than moist pollen. There were only slight differences in seed set due to moisture per se but hydrated pollen treated at 25°C for½ hr and at 0 °C for 3 hr gave the best seed set. In general, the LD 50 based on average seed set for dry and hydrated pollen was not the same for 25 and 0 °C. ( c) Pollen stored in hydrated condition produced less seed than non-stored hydrated pollen. Dry pollen treatments were shown to reduce seed germination of the R 1 In general, the percent seed germination of the R 1 derived from treated dry pollen was lower than that from irradiated hydrated pollen. Pollen treated at 0 °C yielded R 1 seed that germinated better than R 1 seed derived from pollen treated at 25 °C. Among the recovered R 1 seedlings with phenotypic changes, morphological off-types occurred more frequently than chlorophyll and B types. A high percentage of these types, however, were not recovered in the R 2 generation. At 25 °C, treated dry pollen and treated moist pollen yielded the same total percentage of R 1 seedling off-types. On the other hand, differences in R 1 types were shown at 0 °C. That is, pollen treated dry yielded more off-types in the R 1 than pollen humidified for ½ hr at 0 °C. The phenotypically normal R 1 plants were classified for pollen fertility. The data from both 25 and 0 °C treatments indicated that pollen fertility of the R 1 plants decreased as a result of dry pollen irradiation. In addition, pollen fertility was shown to decrease with an increase in X-ray exposure at both 25 and 0 °C. Finally, the percentage of R 2 families that segregated for mutations was relatively high after dry pollen treatments at 25 °C. At 0 °C, there were little differences between dry and moist pollen treatments.

Pollen tube mitosis in culture; osmotic control and acenaphthene treatment.

Pollen tube mitosis and male gamete formation in many, though not all, species with binucleate pollen can be examined after germinating the pollen in a medium containing H3BO3, 0.01 gm; Ca(NO3)2-4H2O, 0.03 gm; MgSO4.7H2O, 0.02 gm; KNO3, 0.01 gm; sucrose, 10 gm; and water, 100 ml. Dry pollen is scattered on a drop of medium placed on a clean slide resting on moist filter paper in a closed Petri dish. After about 24 hr, the medium is drawn off and the pollen tubes are stained and squashed in propionic-orcein. The vapour given off by crystals of acenaphthene, placed on the filter paper when the cultures are set up, inhibit the mitotic spindle. Metaphase stages accumulate in which the chromosome complement can be studied.

Chemotropic Response of Antirrhinum majus Pollen to Calcium

A RECENT review1 on pollen tube chemotropism tentatively suggests that the chemotropic factor may be the same chemical entity in many plants. Figs. 1–5 are the evidence that the pollen tubes of Antirrhinum majus grow tropically towards a source of calcium. A stainless-steel mould was used to make sets of three depressions in nutrient agar2 with each depression separated from the other by an agar wall 1 mm thick. The depressions are 3 mm wide, 5 mm long, and 3 ml. deep, with a 2-ml. thick layer of agar underneath the depression. In Fig. 1 dry pollen was placed in the centre or pollen depression, nothing was added to the right or control depression, while solid calcium carbonate (used because of its low solubility) was placed in the left or test depression. Pollen tubes grew well into the test wall, while few grew into the control wall. This procedure is referred to in the rest of this communication as the bioassay. In Fig. 2 single rows of pollen were placed in the pollen chamber adjacent to the test and control walls. Virtually all the pollen tubes on the test side of the pollen chamber grew into the test wall, whereas those on the control side remained within the pollen depression. In Fig. 3 pollen was placed on the surface of the nutrient agar in a line 1 mm from the outer wall of one of the depressions. Solid calcium carbonate was placed in the depression against the outer wall (out of view below picture). Once again, almost all the pollen tubes grew towards the calcium carbonate while very few grew in the opposite direction. Figs. 4 and 5 are essentially the same as Fig. 3, except that the pollen was placed in a slit made in the agar. With calcium carbonate against the outer wall of the depression (left side of picture), the pollen tubes grew towards the source of calcium (Fig. 4), whereas in Fig. 5 with nothing in the depression the pollen tubes grew in both directions. These demonstrations of a chemotropic response to calcium require careful timing of pollen tube germination and growth in relation to the establishment of the concentration gradients of calcium.

Concerning reliability and unreliability of dried pollen from commercial sources

1. 1. By microscopic examinations of 260 different lots of dry pollen purchased from commercial sources, 68.1 per cent were found authentic and uncontaminated, 20 per cent were contaminated but slightly, and 10.4 per cent of the contamination was “natural” in character, 6.5 per cent was incorrectly labeled, and 5.4 per cent were seriously contaminated. 2. 2. Examination for certification of dried pollen to be used for extraction should be universally required.

Allergy to Australian pine: A report of three cases

1. 1. Casuarina equisetifolia and Casuarina lepidipholia, commonly known as Australian pine, pollinate in Miami Beach during January, February, March, and April. The height of the pollinating season for the past two years has been in April. 2. 2. The pollen of Casuarina is abundant, wind borne, and capable of producing hay fever or asthma in allergic persons. 3. 3. Three patients studied had hay fever, asthma, or both in the North but not during their first two winters in Miami Beach. In the subsequent winters in Miami Beach, all three patients had hay fever or asthma at intervals during January, February, March, and April. 4. 4. From a study of atmospheric slides during the past two years, it was found that symptoms appeared and disappeared concurrently with the presence or absence of the Casuarina pollen in the air. 5. 5. Positive scratch tests and positive intracutaneous tests were obtained on all three patients. Specific reagins were demonstrated in two of the patients. A nasal test with dry pollen done out of season on one patient was positive.

The dry pollen nasal test: Its technic, interpretation, and indications

1. 1. A nasal test, consisting of the repeated instillation of small amounts of dry pollen, has been described. 2. 2. The test gave a specific reaction in all but 7 per cent of the patients, in whom nonspecific reactions ensued as a result of hyperesthetic mucous membranes. 3. 3. The specificity of the nasal test was further demonstrated by its failure to evoke a reaction during the period of active symptomatology, when the membranes are usually in a vulnerable state and tend to react to the slightest irritation. 4. 4. The test has its greatest value in distinguishing the etiologic importance of pollens which yield positive skin tests and pollinate simultaneously, such as occur during the tree and grass seasons. It offers the allergist, who is too occupied to practice field observation, a simplified office procedure which can, in a number of cases, yield information that may be instrumental in making an accurate etiologic diagnosis. 5. 5. In those patients in whom remissions were believed to have occurred, immediate negative nasal tests resulted, indicating that this method is of value in determining when a patient has had a remission.

THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC INTRACTABLE ASTHMA WITH POLLEN EXTRACTS

Article1 October 1933THE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC INTRACTABLE ASTHMA WITH POLLEN EXTRACTSGEORGE L. WALDBOTT, M.D., F.A.C.P.GEORGE L. WALDBOTT, M.D., F.A.C.P.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-7-4-508 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptMost clinicians are in agreement that pollen is the most important cause of asthma (Duke,1 Walzer,2 Vaughan3). While there are many ardent advocates of measures to combat factors other than pollen—especially food, bacterial infections, house dust, and physical allergy—relatively little stress has been laid on the treatment of chronic asthma due to pollen.The obvious reason for this is, of course, the difficulty of recognizing the apparent paradox that in a patient who has been wheezing continuously throughout many years, the asthmatic condition may have originated from seasonal pollen asthma or pollen hay fever. Furthermore, in the chronic asthmatic, skin...Bibliography1. DUKE WW: Allergy, asthma, hay fever, urticaria and allied manifestations of reaction, 1925, C. V. Mosby, St. Louis. Google Scholar2. WALZER M: Asthma, in COCA, A. F., WALZER, M., and THOMMEN, A. A.: Asthma and hay fever in theory and practice, 1931, C. C. Thomas, Springfield. Google Scholar3. VAUGHAN WT: Allergy and applied immunology: a handbook for physician and patient, on asthma, hay fever, urticaria, eczema, migraine, and kindred manifestations of allergy, 1931, C. V. Mosby, St. Louis. Google Scholar4. PESHKIN MM: Dry pollen ophthalmic test in pollen asthma and hay fever patients negative to cutaneous tests, Jr. Allergy, 1931, iii, 20-29. CrossrefGoogle Scholar5. BROWN A: Perennial treatment of seasonal hay fever, Jr. Allergy, 1931, iii, 113-119. Google Scholar6. FIGLEY KD: Continuous method of hay fever treatment, Jr. Allergy, 1930, ii, 39-42. CrossrefGoogle Scholar7. VAUGHAN WT: Perennial pollen desensitization, Jr. Am. Med. Assoc., 1931, xcvii, 90-91. CrossrefGoogle Scholar8. WALDBOTT GL: Systemic reactions from pollen injections; their causes and prevention, Jr. Am. Med. Assoc., 1931, xcvi, 1848-1851. CrossrefGoogle Scholar9. RACKEMANN FM: Chronic severe asthma; study of group of cases requiring hospital treatment, Jr. Am. Med. Assoc., 1932, xcix, 202-204. CrossrefGoogle Scholar10. ROWE AH: Food allergy; its manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment, Jr. Am. Med. Assoc., 1928, xci, 1623-1631. CrossrefGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: Detroit, Michigan*Read at the Montreal Meeting of the American College of Physicians, February 9, 1933. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byAsthma bronchialeNew Trends in the Treatment of Bronchial AsthmaDie asthmatische Reaktion 1 October 1933Volume 7, Issue 4Page: 508-517KeywordsAsthmaDustFeversFoodPollen Issue Published: 1 October 1933 PDF downloadLoading ...

The allergen content of pollen extracts. Its determination and its deterioration

1. 1. The protein nitrogen content of pollen extracts could be determined directly by analysis of the 10 per cent phosphotungstic acid protein precipitate or indirectly by the difference between the total and nonprotein nitrogen. 2. 2. The activity of pollen extracts, as measured by the protein nitrogen content, varied according to the condition of the pollen and the age of the extract. 3. 3. Deterioration of pollen, measured by the reduction of aqueous soluble protein, was prevented by preserving the dry pollen sealed from atmospheric conditions. 4. 4. The loss of the protein nitrogen and activity in alkaline saline pollen extracts approximated 50 per cent at the end of one year. 5. 5. Repeated filtration of pollen extracts reduced the activity and protein nitrogen content proportionately. The nonprotein nitrogen was not affected. 6. 6. A study of pollen extraction has shown the ready solubility of the active protein material. Long periods of extraction or repeated extractions were not necessary for its solution.

A dry pollen ophthalmic test in pollen asthma and hay fever patients negative to cutaneous tests: M. Murray Peshkin, New York City. (For original article, see page 20)

A dry pollen ophthalmic test in pollen asthma and hay fever patients negative to cutaneous tests: M. Murray Peshkin, New York City. (For original article, see page 20)

XI. A dry pollen ophthalmic test in pollen asthma and hay fever patients negative to cutaneous tests

XI. A dry pollen ophthalmic test in pollen asthma and hay fever patients negative to cutaneous tests