Hello, this video deals with pollen and allergy. First of all, we're going to see what is pollen, the different disciplines of Palynology. We will focus on Aerobiology and allergy, which are the main objectives of this video. Then we will follow with the characteristics of plants that produce allergenic pollen and the symptoms of allergy. Pollen are microscopic grains produced in the male cones of conifers and other gymnosperms, and also produce in angiosperm flowers.These plants; gymnosperms and angiosperms, are plants that produce it. This is important because to have a seed, first, we need a male cell that is inside the pollen. So pollen consists of one or more vegetative cells, and one male reproductive cell. Pollen grains can have a very wide range of shapes, sizes, and ornaments, characteristics of the taxa. Except for some submerged aquatic plants, mature pollen have a double wall. An external hard wall made of sporopolenin, which is called Exine, and an internal thin wall made of cellulose that it's called Intine. In the images, you can see different exines of pollen with these different ornament, and also an image of a winged pollen. Winged pollen are those that have aerial backs on the sides, because they need to be scattered by the air, by wind. This is typical of pine trees, firs, and spruces. Palynology is the science that study pollen in the air. This science can be applied to different environmental studies. One of these studies is Aerobiology, which studies pollen and spores in the atmosphere. We also have Paleopalinology and Archaeological palynology which examines form of vegetation, composition, the climate, and the human plants and uses, in the past. We have Forensic palynology which is the most recent study area, and it studies the pollen and other palynimorphs for evidence at the scene of a crime. Another example of a study area is Melissopalynology, which studies the pollen found in honey and other bee products. In this field, Anna Maurizio was a Swiss biologist, considered an expert in Apiculture worldwide. Her research focused on Melissopalynology, and she was the first to introduce the concept of Apiarian flora, which are the planet species that are visited by bees, or that use bees. She was also pioneer on the research on honey types. Focusing on Aerobiology, which is the former name for Aeropalynology, we have that pollen is one of the most common allergen in the world. Ruth Leuschner, a Switzerland woman, is considered the first woman who studied airborne pollen related to allergies. She monitored pollen for 30 years in Switzerland, in her city, and her results allowed to understand the behavior of the different plant producing allergenic pollen. Her observations were supported by some epidemiological studies showing that tree pollen allergy has become more important in the last years, compared to grass and other herb pollen allergies. One of the reasons for that is the observed increase of the annual temperatures, together with an increase in CO2. In this slide, we have the top plants producing allergenic pollen. They are divided in three groups, grasses with Lolium, Phleum and Secale cereale as examples. Another group is of other herbs with Ambrosia, Artemisia, Chenopodium, Parieteria, and Plantago. Finally, a group of trees, with Alnus, Betula, Cupressus, Fragus, Fragus, Olea europae, Plantago x hybrida, that you have their image on the top, or willow. So what are the characteristics of allergenic pollen? Pollen grains that cause allergies are those from Anemophilous plants. That means that the pollen of these plants are scattered by wind. These plants produce huge quantities of pollen, the pollen is light-weighted, it is carried by the fluxe of air up to long distances, and the pollen is able to liberate allergens that are easily inhaled. The immune system of an allergic person recognize the pollen as a harmful substance, and overreacts to it because it's a threat causing the allergic symptoms. When a person, an allergy-prone person enters in contact for the first time to an allergen such as pollen, that person produces high quantities of antibody, IgE. These antibodies attach to mast cells, which are immune system cells, and with a second contact to the pollen, the mast cells generates chemical mediators such as histamine, causing the allergic symptoms. The allergy symptoms are different from those of a common cold. There is no fever, there is mucous secretion, runny and clear, sneezes occurring in a rapid and in several sequences, itchy throat, ears, nose, and eyes, even skin. In some cases, asthma. There symptoms last longer than seven to 10 days. Sometimes, we talk about Pollinosis, which is nasal allergy to pollen, and also to Hay fever, that is allergy specifically to a grass pollen. Now, we are going to interview an expert in Palynology. With us is Jordina Belmonte, professor from the Palynology lab, from the University of Autonoma of Barcelona. She leads the research group of [inaudible]. She also coordinates the point of information on Aerobiology from Catalonia and Tenerife in Spain. Jordina, will we use your time to tell us how we can measure airborne pollen? Yeah, of course. This is my speciality. This is one of the most used pollen traps at this moment. It's a huge device, and it works connected to the electricity. Here is the pump, and this pump the air enter here. When the air enters here, it impacts a drum similar to this one. We use a plastic band coated with silicone oil, and then there are impacts here. This full phase is connected to a clock, and it advances to millimeters per hour. So we take this to the laboratory, we cut the plastic band, and we elaborate on a slide per day, we put some colorant, and then we put it into the light microscope. We have to count, and recognize every one of the particles that have impacted here. This is the way we have a lecture on the pollen concentration, or the fungal spore concentrations per day. With this, we can make predictions over one day, one week, what will happen over the time. These people can check this data? Yeah. It's very common to be connected to the websites, like our ones in each region or country, to see what can happen. This is very useful for allergic people, and for medical doctors that have to find the cause of the allergy to the people that go to the consultation to make a visit. So it's very useful. Another thing that these type of trap is very useful, is because the way it takes the air, the way it sucks the air in, can be regulated by here, and we make it work similarly to what people breathe. So apparently, what we count here is similar to what people can have on their lungs. Only is that data that you obtain is public, can people check it somewhere? Yeah. We usually provide them, every group that work like this, through web pages, mobile applications, through Instagram, they are open usually for consultation to everyone. Thank you Jordina for being so kind to give me this interview. Always at your dispensability.
