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Get the pollen count for Birmingham, AL See tree, weed, grass levels and activity. The most trusted pollen forecast, plus relief tips., delicious.com

"Ever wonder how something as tiny as a grain of pollen could cause an allergy or asthma attack? This video illustrates exactly what happens once an allergen enters your body." Posted by WebDan65 to mites Allergies Pollen reaction allergy dust Asthma on Fri Dec 12 2008, connotea.org

Allergy Allergies and Hay Fever - Pollen.com -, delicious.com

Journal of Archaeological Science, Vol. 33, No. 2. (February 2006), pp. 299-305.Richard Macphail, GM Cruise, Michael Allen, Johan Linderholm, citeulike.org

Oikos, Vol. 97, No. 1. (2002), pp. 125-133.This study describes the seasonal patterns of seed and cone abortion in natural Pinus halepensis trees and assesses the effects of pollen quantity, tree size and cone location on seed and cone abortion. The cone-set ratio was similar to the expected value, based on literature on woody perennials. The seed-ovule ratio, however, was almost twice as high as its expected value. The investment in protective cone elements was high and did not vary with the seed-ovule ratio of a cone. Pollination factors influenced cone abortion, as indicated by the high abortion rate at the end of the pollination period. Furthermore, abortive cones had lower pollination rates and lower pollen loads than well developed cones. Effects of resource availability were assessed as effects of tree size and cone position on twigs. Small trees aborted more cones than big trees and cone abortion was higher in apical cones than in basal cones. Abortion in P. halepensis is selective, mediated by both pollen quantity and resource availability. The relative importance of pollen and resources is suggested to be flexible, probably varying between trees and years. The high seed-ovule ratio of P. halepensis is the result of high pollination rate and selective abortion. The selective abortion might be due to the high allocation to protective cone elements relative to the allocation to seeds.Shirrinka Goubitz, Marinus Werger, Avi Shmida, Gidi Ne'eman, citeulike.org

Sexual Plant Reproduction, Vol. 8, No. 1. (17 January 1995), pp. 1-10.Abstract  The evolution of dry stigmas has been accompanied by the development ? in the pollen ? of mechanisms for accessing water from the stigmatic epidermis. Development of self- and cross-pollen on the stigmatic surface has been examined in Brassica oleracea, focusing on the hydration of the grains. Unlike self-compatible (SC) Arabidopsis thaliana, pollen hydration of self-incompatible (SI) Brassica oleracea is preceded by a latent period of between 30?90 min, which is significantly shortened by inhibition of protein synthesis in the stigma. Physiological experiments, some with isolated pollen coatings, indicate that during the latent period signals passing from the pollen to the sigma are responsible for readying the stigmatic surface for penetration and ? after self-pollination ? activation of the SI system. The changes at the stigma surface include the expansion of the outer layer of the cell wall beneath the grain. This expansion does not occur following self-pollination, when coating-derived signals stimulate a stigmatic response which interrupts hydration and arrests grain development. Cell manipulation studies suggest that self grains are not inhibited metabolically, but are physiologically isolated from the subjacent stigmatic papilla. This focusing of the SI response at the pollen-stigma interface ensures that a single papilla can simultaneously accept cross-pollen and reject self-grains. The evolution of this highly efficient SI system is disussed in the perspective of pathogen-defence mechanisms known also to be located in epidermal cells.H Dickinson, citeulike.org

Plant Cell, Vol. 11, No. 2. (1 February 1999), pp. 251-262.The adhesion of pollen grains to the stigma is the first step of pollination in flowering plants. During this step, stigmas discriminate between pollen grains that can and cannot be permitted to effect fertilization. This selection is operated by various constituents of the cell walls of both partners. Several genes structurally related to the self-incompatibility system that prevents self-pollination in Brassica spp are known to target their products into the stigma cell wall. We proposed previously that one of these genes, the one encoding the S locus glycoprotein (SLG)-like receptor 1 (SLR1), which is coexpressed with that encoding SLG, may participate in pollen-stigma adhesion. Here, we exploit a biomechanical assay to measure the pollen adhesion force and show that it is reduced both by transgenic suppression of SLR1 expression and by pretreatment of wild-type stigmas with anti-SLR1 antibodies, anti-SLG antibodies, or pollen coat-protein extracts. Our results indicate a common adhesive function for the SLR1 and SLG proteins in the pollination process. 10.1105/tpc.11.2.251Doan-Trung Luu, Daniele Marty-Mazars, Martin Trick, Christian Dumas, Philippe Heizmann, citeulike.org

Plant Cell, Vol. 8, No. 12. (1 December 1996), pp. 2369-2380.10.1105/tpc.8.12.2369K Yu, U Schafer, TL Glavin, DR Goring, SJ Rothstein, citeulike.org