Is ragweed pollen allergenicity governed by environmental conditions during plant growth and flowering?

ABSTRACT: Pollen allergenicity is one of the main factors influencing the prevalence and/or severity of allergic diseases. However, how genotype and environment contribute to ragweed pollen allergenicity has still to be established. To throw some light on the factors governing allergenicity, in this work 180 ragweed plants from three Regions (Canada, France, Italy) were grown in both controlled (constant) and standard environmental conditions (seasonal changes in temperature, relative humidity and light). Pollen from single plants was characterized for its allergenic potency and for the underlying regulation mechanisms by studying the qualitative and quantitative variations of the main isoforms of the major ragweed allergen Amb a 1. Results showed a statistically higher variability in allergenicity

SUBMITTER: Ghiani A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4960655 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature