Pollen Monitoring by Optical Microscopy and DNA Metabarcoding: Comparative Study and New Insights

Mattia Fragola, Augusto Arsieni, Nicola Carelli, Sabrina Dattoli, Sante Maiellaro, Maria Rita Perrone and Salvatore Romano
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Mattia Fragola: Department of Mathematics and Physics, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Augusto Arsieni: Azienda Sanitaria Locale (ASL) Brindisi, 72100 Brindisi, Italy
Nicola Carelli: Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e la Protezione dell’Ambiente (ARPA) Puglia, 70126 Bari, Italy
Sabrina Dattoli: Agenzia Regionale per la Prevenzione e la Protezione dell’Ambiente (ARPA) Puglia, 70126 Bari, Italy
Sante Maiellaro: Azienda Sanitaria Locale (ASL) Brindisi, 72100 Brindisi, Italy
Maria Rita Perrone: Department of Mathematics and Physics, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Salvatore Romano: Department of Mathematics and Physics, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-25

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.

Keywords: pollen sampling; Hirst-type trap; PM10 sampler; pollen family detection; optical microscopy; DNA metabarcoding approach; pollen family characterization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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