Abstract
Environmental samples collected in Brindisi (Italy) by a Hirst-type trap and in Lecce (Italy) by a PM10 sampler were analysed by optical microscopy and DNA-metabarcoding, respectively, to identify airborne pollen and perform an exploratory study, highlighting the benefits and limits of both sampling/detection systems. The Hirst-type trap/optical-microscopy system allowed detecting pollen on average over the full bloom season, since whole pollen grains, whose diameter vary within 10–100 μm, are required for morphological detection with optical microscopy. Conversely, pollen fragments with an aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm were collected in Lecce by the PM10 sampler. Pollen grains and fragments are spread worldwide by wind/atmospheric turbulences and can age in the atmosphere, but aerial dispersal, aging, and long-range transport of pollen fragments are favoured over those of whole pollen grains because of their smaller size. Twenty-four Streptophyta families were detected in Lecce throughout the sampling year, but only nine out of them were in common with the 21 pollen families identified in Brindisi. Meteorological parameters and advection patterns were rather similar at both study sites, being only 37 km apart in a beeline, but their impact on the sample taxonomic structure was different, likely for the different pollen sampling/detection systems used in the two monitoring areas.
Highlights
Aerobiology investigates the passive transport of bioaerosols through the air
Pollen samples collected in Brindisi (Figure 1) are analysed in this subsection, whose results are based on optical microscopy
Meteorological parameters and longrange airflows, which were rather similar in Brindisi and Lecce, being 37 km apart in a beeline, and the good correlation between the pollen grain number >10 retrieved in Brindisi by optical microscopy and the pollen read number retrieved in Lecce by the DNA-metabarcoding approach have supported the comparative analyses of this study
Summary
Aerobiology investigates the passive transport of bioaerosols (microorganisms and biological particulate matter) through the air. Allergy prevention [1] and gene flow by airborne pollen are only some of its application fields [2]. Pollen is well studied worldwide to investigate the likelihood of human exposure to these aeroallergens, the human sensitivity to them and the severity of allergic symptoms. As a matter of fact, allergic diseases are amongst the most common chronic disorders [3,4], the knowledge of atmospheric pollen concentrations in different regions and seasons is compulsory to achieve a better management of the associated diseases [5–8]. Aeroallergen networks have been globally established in response to the increasing prevalence of pollen allergy and asthma. A typical example is represented by the European
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