Mahboubeh Sheikhbahaei, Farkhondeh Rezanejad, Hossein-Ali Sasan,
Volume 5, Issue 4 (3-2019)
Abstract
The flowering process in plants proceeds through the induction of an inflorescence meristem triggered by several pathways. Many of the genes associated with these pathways encode transcription factors of the MADS domain family. The MADS-domain transcription factor APETALA1 (AP1) is a key regulator of flower development. The first step to understand the molecular mechanisms under the function of each gene in a plant is identification, sequencing and phylogeny analysis of that gene. For this purpose, total RNA was isolated from flower bud of garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.) and was used for cDNA synthesis. The specific primers were designed based on nucleotide sequence alignment of AP1 homologus genes from plants of the same family Brassicaceae and were used in RT-PCR. After observing its electrophoretic pattern and ensuring the quality of PCR product, the amplicon was sent for sequencing. After receiving the results of sequencing, the sequence examined with BLAST, MUSCLE, Gene Runner and MEGA6 softwares. The results indicated amplification of 787 nucleotides fragment that named LsAP1 and was recorded by accession number KP070728 in NCBI database. The studies show high similarity and overlapping of gene bank sequences with LsAP1 illative protein. According to these results, LsAP1 may play a similar role as AP1 in flower induction and could act as a flower meristem identity gene in Lepidium sativum L.
Fateme Mousavi, Youcef Shahali, José Oteros, Karl-Christian Bergmann,
Volume 9, Issue 2 (9-2022)
Abstract
Pollen respiratory allergies have been increasing in prevalence over the last two decades, partly as the result of the impact of climate change. For many allergenic trees, grass and weed species, increased pollen production and prolonged pollination period result in long-term increased abundance of pollen allergens in the atmosphere; earlier shifts of airborne pollen grains and prolonged exposure to respiratory allergens with important health effects on allergic individuals. The aim of this review paper was to investigate the impact of climate change and meteorological factors on pollen season indicators with a special focus on the main allergenic taxa worldwide. Main variables influencing flowering phenology such as location, climatic and meteorological parameters were identified, discussed and substantiated by published literature. Temperature, solar radiation, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction were identified among the most important meteorological parameters affecting the fluctuations of annual concentrations of allergenic airborne pollen grains. Although notable variations were observed according to allergenic species and studied geographical areas, temperature appeared to be the most important climatic parameter affecting flowering phenology and pollen season indicators, especially in tree species. Rising carbon dioxide levels also result in increased plant biomass, increased flowering intensity and pollen production in several tree, grass and weed allergenic species. In the light of this review, there is a growing body of evidence supporting the effect of climate change on the flowering phenology and pollen season indicators of a substantial number of allergenic ornamental and invasive plant species.
