Daturastramoniumpollen and it’s possible role in allergenic etiology- Recommendations for standardization of pollen extracts for ASIT

DaturastramoniumL., a less known species of Daturais generally confused with its other related species Daturametel, the pollen of which has been proved to be allergenic. But D. stramoniumhas been found to grow luxuriantly in several places of West Bengal. There are still no reports on the allergenicity of the pollen of this plant. The present paper reports the pollen morphology and protein profile of the pollen of D. stramoniumat different stages of maturity. The pollen was collected both before and after anthesis and the change in protein profile and concentration studied for both immature (before anthesis) and mature (after anthesis) stages. A slight decrease in protein concentration was observed in case of immature pollen. The SDS-PAGE protein profile showed a total of 10 protein bands designated as D'1 to D'10, between the molecular weight range of 22 kDa to 205 kDa. There was also a variation in the protein profile between immature and mature pollen with the number of protein bands being more in case of mature pollen. On the basis of ultrastructure studies, the pollen grains were found to be radially symmetrical, tricolporate, 3zonoaperturate and trichotomusculte with thick exine. Tectum is usually reticulate, striated with thick columella. Theexine pattern shows the presence of a thick columella.