APPLIED ASPECTS OF

PALYNOLOGY
PALYNOLOGY:
It is the study of pollen grains and other spores, especially as found in
archaeological or geological deposits. Pollen extracted from such deposits maybe
used for radiocarbon dating and for studying past climates and environments by
identifying plants then growing.
Palynology deals with plant spores and pollen that are both ancient
and modern and is a branch of paleobotany. It plays an important role in the
investigation of ancient climates, particularly through studies of deposits formed
during glacial and interglacial stages. Study of a sequence of spore- or pollen-
bearing beds may reveal successive climatic changes, as indicated by changes in
types of spores and pollen derived from different vegetative complexes. Spores
and pollen are borne by the wind and spread over large areas. Furthermore, they
tend to be resistant to decay and thus maybe preserved in sediments under
adverse conditions.
As pollen and spores are produced in large numbers and dispersed over large areas
by wind and water, their fossils are recoverable in statistically significant
assemblages in a wide variety of sedimentary rocks. Moreover, because pollen and
spores are highly resistant to decay and physical alteration, they can be studied in
much the same way as the components of living plants.
Palynological studies using fresh or non-fossilized samples have
also been useful in establishing a location or seasonal time frame for crime scenes
and have served to determine the agricultural practices and other plant-related
activities that occurred at archaeological sites.

HISTORY
The term Palynology, coined by Hyde and Williams in 1944, refers to study of the
pollen and spores along with other entities of plant and animal origin including
cysts of protist groups such as dinoflagellates and zygnemataceans.
Those microscopic structures are called palynomorphs, and
represent preserved parts of the life cycles of various organisms.
Pollen, spores, acritarchs, dinoflagellate thecae and cysts, certain colonial
algae, scolecodonts and chitinozoans are palynomorphs.
All palynomorphs are composed by sporopollenin, dinosporine, chitin
or pseudochitin. Another important characteristic is it size: about 5–500
micrometers. Because of it, the history of Palynology is linked to the history of
Microscopy. The earliest microscopic observation of pollen was made by
the English botanist Nehemiah Grew in the 1640s.
Pollen analysis advanced rapidly in this period due to advances in optics and
computers. Much of the science was revised by Johannes Iversen and Knut
Fægri in their textbook on the subject.
PALYNOMORPHS
Palynomorphs are broadly defined as organic-walled microfossils between 5 and
500 micromeres in size. They are extracted from sedimentar rocks and sediment
cores both physically, by ultrasonic treatment and wet sieving, and chemically, by
chemical digestion to remove the non-organic fraction. Palynomorphs may be
composed of organic material such as chitin, pseudochitin and sporopollenin.
Palynomorphs that have a taxonomy description are sometimes referred to as
palynotaxa.
Palynomorphs form a geological record of importance in
determining the type of prehistoric life that existed at the time the sedimentary
formation was laid down. As a result, these microfossils give important clues to
the prevailing climatic conditions of the time. Their paleontological utility derives
from an abundance numbering in millions of cells per gram in organic marine
deposits, even when such deposits are generally not fossiliferous. Palynomorphs,
however, generally have been destroyed in metamorphic or recrystallized rocks.
PALYNOFACIES:
A palynofacies is the complete assemblage of organic matter and palynomorphs in
a fossil deposit. The study of the palynofacies of a depositional environment of
sediments can be used to learn about the depositional palaeoenvironments
of sedimentary rocks. The term palynofacies was introduced by the
French geologist André Combaz in 1964. Palynofacies studies are often linked to
investigations of the palynology and organic geochemistry of sedimentary rocks.
Palynofacies can be used in two ways:

 Organic palynofacies considers all the acid insoluble particulate organic

matter (POM), including kerogen and palynomorphs in sediments and
palynological preparations of sedimentary rocks. The sieved or unsieved
preparations may be examined using strew mounts on microscope slides that
may be examined using a transmitted light biological microscope
or ultraviolet (UV) fluorescence microscope. The abundance, composition and
preservation of the various components, together with the thermal alteration
of the organic matter is considered.
 Palynomorph palynofacies considers the abundance, composition and diversity
of palynomorphs in a sieved palynological preparation of sediments or
palynological preparation of sedimentary rocks.
 The ratio of marine fossil phytoplankton, together with chitinozoans, to
terrestrial palynomorphs (pollen and spores) can be used to derive a terrestrial
input index in marine sediments.
SCOPE OF PALYNOLOGY:
They are mainly divided into two. 1)basic palynology and 2)applied palynology
BASIC PALYNOLOGY- This aspect covers pollen and spore morphology,pollen
outputs,dissemination and resistance of pollen to decay.
APPLIED PALYNOLOGY- this is again divided into several classifications.

a) Aeropalynology-
Aeropalynology is a branch of palynology and related to the study of pollen and
spores that are dispersed in the atmosphere. The study also includes their
eventual dissemination, deposition and impact on human systems.
Pollen grains are dispersed more than 400 miles away from the source plants.
They can be found more than two miles above the surface. The airborne pollen
grains originate from anemophilous plants and so they are small, light, smooth
walled, colourless, produced in large numbers, dry and lack nectar.
b) Mellitopalynology-
Melissopalynology or melittopalynology is the study of pollen and spores
present in honey. By extension, it also includes honeydew elements i.e. fungal
spores, hyphae and microscopical algae and other bioparticles. ‘Melissa’ and
‘melitta’ mean a bee according to Paxton’s Botanical Dictionary, 1868. Apis
mellifera is the scientific name of common honeybee. In Latin the word mellifera
means honey.
c) Paleopharmacology- This volume demonstrates that parasitic disease was a
problem for human populations all over the world and at all time periods. It is very
probable that human populations would have developed treatments of the
symptoms of parasitic disease and remedies to eliminate the parasites from their
bodies. This is one focus of the field of "paleopharmacology". Already, this
fledgling field has demonstrated that anthelminthics and treatments for
symptoms were a part of the prehistoric pharmacopoeia. We are taking the
opportunity here to summarize the current findings of ancient parasite therapies,
present a case example from Piauí, Brazil, and to suggest a methodology to be
applied in the future.
The field of paleopharmacology is fraught with uncertainty.
Identifying plant species and linking these species to possible medicinal use
involves several stages of analysis. Each stage is dependent on accurate
accomplishment of the previous stage. For example, if the identification of a plant
fragment is incorrect, then subsequent inferences about its medicinal role are
incorrect. For these reasons, we present a methodology for assessing the
medicinal implications of coprolite components.

d) Iatro palynology- Each spring, summer, and fall, trees, weeds, and grasses
release tiny pollen grains into the air. Some of the pollen ends up in your nose and
throat. This can trigger a type of allergy called hay fever.
Symptoms can include-sneezing, often with a runny or clogged nose, Coughing
and postnasal drip, Itching eyes, nose and throat, Red and watery eyes, Dark
circles under the eyes
Therefore, the study of medical aspects of pollen grains in connection with hay
fever etc is known as Iatro palynology.
Volumetric sampling in the years 2009–2014 showed
that Urtica, Betula, Pinus, Alnus, Fraxinus, Ambrosia, Artemisia, Juglans, Carpinus,
Populus, Quercus, Acer, Salix, Poaceae, Amarathaceae, and Polygonaceae pollen
grains are prevalent among the airborne allergen types in the urban atmosphere.
The principal pollen types remain the same but over time their quantities have
changed.
e) Forensic palynology-
Forensic palynology is the study of pollen, spores and other acid-
resistant microscopic plant bodies, including dinoflagellates, to prove or disprove a
relationship between objects, people and places that pertain to both criminal and
civil cases.
Pollen can tell a lot about where a person or object has been, because regions
of the world, countries, and even different parts of a garden will have a
distinctive pollen assemblage. Pollen evidence can also reveal the season in which a
particular object picked up the pollen. Pollen has been used to trace activity at
mass graves in Bosnia, catch a burglar who brushed against a Hypericum bush
during a crime, and has even been proposed as an additive for bullets to enable
tracking them.
For instance, a dead body may be found in a wood, and the clothes may contain
pollen that was released after death (the time of death can be determined
by forensic entomology), but in a place other than where it was found. That
indicates that the body was moved.

f) Copro palynology-
this aspect is related with the study with the regard to criminology.
Criminology and its relation to palynology-
There were three pollen groups associated with this study,
 coca leaves native to the plants grown in Bolivia and Columbia
 pollen from trees that grow only in a few regions of North America and,
 pollen from weedy plants that are commonly grown in New York.
Plants involved in study
Indirectly
*Researchers
*Civilians
*Users
The benefits of this research is its contributions to criminal investigation
as well as keeping citizens safe from the hazards of drug use and trafficking.
The researches purpose for using this biomarker was to exemplify the usefulness
of pollen analysis in aiding criminal investigation when other evidence proved to be
useless or resulted in college case.
People associated with this study
*Investigation
*Traffickers
*Suppliers

g) Geo palynology-
It is the study of fossil pollens and is also known as palaepalynology.
Paleopalynology (uncountable) the branch of palynology concerned with the study
of ancient pollens and spores, rather than with those still extant.
Small sizes, usually less than 1 mm, microfossils can be recovered from various
sedimentaryrocks, both marine and terrestrial, in great numbers and diversity. A
small sample can revealan entire ecosystem of organisms that can be used to
reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions (e.g., climate, water depth, and salinity),
evolutionary history of a group (paleobio-geography, origination, and extinction of
species), and for relative dating (biostratigraphyand correlation).
For these reasons, micropaleontology is used routinely for the study of
core samples, just as macrofossils such as mollusk shells, vertebrates, or plant
fossils have
been studied when examining exposed surfaces in cores. The different branches of
micro-paleontology focus on specific fossil groups, characterized by their
constitutive material,whether inorganic walled (calcareous microfossils such as
foraminifera and coccolith,siliceous such as radiolarians, diatoms, and phytoliths,
or phosphatic such as conodonts),or organic walled, the latter being specifically
relevant to palynology.
h) Palyno taxonomy-
This aspect deals with the applications of pollen morphology as an aid to
systematics. The exine architecture and apertures such as position, numbers,
characters, provides the best diagnostic features.

POLLEN MORPHOLOGY:
Morphological characteristics of pollen grains have been categorised into
different groups: 1. Pollen Units 2. Polarity 3. Symmetry 4. Shape 5. Size 6.
Apertures 7. Sub-Divisions of the Pollen Surface 8. Sporoderm Stratification 9.
Exine Ornamentation 10. ‘LO’ Analysis.

1. Pollen Units:
The pollen grains are produced within the anther of the flower.
Pollen mother cells originate from the sporogenous tissue of the anther, which
later divide meiotically to form four pollen grains called tetrad.

The pollen grains do not remain united at maturity, and are dissociated into single
pollen grain called monad.
Sometimes rarer types like dyads (two pollen grains), Octads (eight pollen grains)
and Polyads (many pollen grains) are also observed.
2. Polarity:
The orientation of polarity is an important criterion in identification and
description of pollen grains, as apertural position is of primary phylogenetic and
functional significance. All pollen grains are in tetrad stage during development
and the polarity is determined in this stage, prior to their separation.

3. Symmetry:
Pollen grains or spores are symmetric or asymmetric.
The asymmetric grains are either non- fixiform (without fixed shape) or fixiform
(with fixed shape). Asymmetrical grains
have no plane of symmetry. They are rare in
occurrence.
The Symmetric grains are either
radiosymmetric (radially symmetrical) or
bilateral (having a single plane of
symmetry)
4. Shape:
The shape of the pollen grains varies from species to species. Shape of the grains
is found to be useful in spore/pollen identification. However, the shape may vary
considerably within one grain type or even within one species.

The shape (non-angular and angular) of their outline both in polar and equatorial
views often describes pollen grains and spores. The shape of the pollen/spores
may be circular, elliptical, triangular, rectangular, quadrangular or in other
geometrical shapes

5. Size:
Pollen grains show a great variety in their sizes. Smallest pollen grains of about 5
x 2.4 µm is noted in Myosotis palustris and some members of Boraginaceae, while
the largest pollen grains (> 200 µm in diameter) are observed in Curcurbitaceae,
Nyctaginaceae and Orectanthe ptaritepuiane (Abolbodaceae).
6. Apertures:
Morphologically aperture is an opening or thinning of the Exine where the in tine is
usually thick; physiologically it is a germination zone or a harmomegathus (A
mechanism accommodating changes in volume of the semi rigid pollen Exine) or
both.

7. Sub-Divisions of the Pollen Surface:

The areas on a pollen grain that are not occupied by apertures are given names
depending on whether they are adjacent to colpi or pori.

According to Erdtman, (1952) Apocolpium (Fig. 4.13) is a region at the pole of a

zonocolpate pollen grain delimited by lines connecting the apices of the colpi.
Similarly, Apoporium (Fig. 4.13) is an area at the pole of a zonoporate pollen grain
that is delimited by a line connecting the borders of the pores.

8. Sporoderm Stratification:
The pollen wall, the sporoderm is generally stratified i.e. layered (Fig. 4.14). The
walls of the mature pollen, at least in angiosperms, consists of two fundamentally
different layers, intine and an outer acetolysis resistant layer Exine composed of
sporopollenin.

9. Exine Ornamentation:
There are two different types of exine ornamentation, the structure or texture
and the sculpturing. The structure comprises of all the internal (infratectal)
baculae of various form and arrangements.
All the ektexine characters belong to the structural features, while the
sculpturing comprises external (supratectal) geometric features without
reference to their internal construction.

10. ‘LO’ Analysis:

An optical section does not always make the fine structure of the sexine as clear
as one might expect. A careful focusing through the sculpturing and patterning
presented in a surface view of the grain provide a good deal of information.

APPLICATIONS OF PALYNOLOGY:
Some important applied aspects are :
In ancient times :-
recognised the importance of pollen by Assyrian artisans in 717 B.C.-
ancient Indians use pollen bath of Indian laburnum (Cassia fistula)-Egyptians use
pollen powder for face skin cure.
Human food:-
American Indians use pollens of Typha for preparing pollen soup.
Some tribes of New Zealand, India and Pakistan use Typha pollens as food.-Bee
collected pollens are source of vitamin B and C as well as Vitamin D & E.

Medicine:-
Ancient Arabs use Lycopodium spores to cure stomach disorders.-
Spores of Adiantum Philippines are used in leprosy and other skin diseases-
Pollens of Typha laxmanii are astringent and styptic.-Pollens of Cycas circinalis are
narcotic.
Pollen Allergy :-
the term allergy was first used by Piquet to indicate altered specific reactivity
of all kinds.-Some important diseases caused by pollens are –
Hay fever (allergic rhinitis) : symptoms include profuse watery nasaldischarge
with sneezing, red and irritated eye and headache. It is caused bythe plants
belonging to Gymnosperms (Ginkgo biloba, Juniperus mexicana,Pinus contorta,
Thuja plicata, etc.), Angiosperms ( Dicot : Acer,Amaranthus, Ambrosia, Xanthium,
Chrysanthemum, Cannabis, Carica papaya, Casuarina, Chenopodium, Acacia,
Eucalyptus, Rumes, Ranunculus,etc : Monocots : Phonenix, Juncus, Luzula, avena,
Cynodon, Poa, Secale,Zea, Sorghum, Typha, etc). Ambrosia pollen are most
allergenic.

Anaphylactic shock (Anaphylaxis) :

It is the most severe allergic reactions.Symptoms include sudden vasomotor
collapse, shock and paroxysmal bronchio-constriction. If immediate treatment not
given, it may lead todeath. Allergens associated belonged to Ambrosia and
Chrysanthemum etc.

Asthma :
Extrinsic asthma may be caused by pollens, spores of Acer,Populus, Ambosia,
Cynodon, Moru, Acacia, Quercus, Astragalus,Amaranthus, Fraxinus, Olea etc.

Dermatitis (inflammatory reaction of the skin) :

It has two types – irritantdermatitis and photodermatitis. Irritant dermatitis
caused by Narcissus,Urticca, Laportea, Urera, Ranunculus, Ananas etc.
Photodermatitis arecaused by Anona, Plumeria, Bassica, Ananas, Carica, Acacia,
Jatropha,Allium, Ranunculus, Solanum, Capsicum etc.

There are a few geological fields in which palynology can be applied to, here are
the major fields:

 Geochronology
 Biostratigraphy
 Paleoecology
 Quaternary Palynology

 Geochronology - dating of rocks. Palynoflora are used to date

rocks. Palynomorphs are great indicators of narrow time ranges because of
 the rapid evolution of the samples. Because they are present in rocks that
don't usually have fossils, the microscopic fossils are used as a time range
instead of waiting for complicated lab results.
 Biostratigraphy - correlation of rock sections. This aspect of
palynology is the most important economically. Proper indentification of
indicative palynomorphs could lead to the discovery of oil, coal, and gas
deposits. In fact, fossilized pollen was first discovered in a coal thin
section. Because pollen and spores have the tendency of being dragged along
with migrating petroleum through pourous rocks - they are good indicators
that petroleum isn't too far away. The small sizes of palynomorphs are ideal
for drill core samples. The colouration and type of palynomorph represents
the thermal maturity and hydrocarbon potential of the area.
 Paleoecology - past environments. Because palynomorphs are sensitive
to any minor fluctuation in their surroundings, they are highly indicative of
the environment in which they are deposited. The advantage of palynomorphs
over other fossils is their widespread distribution; they can be found in
either terrestrial, freshwater, saltwater, and estuary sources of
sedimentary rocks.
 Quaternary palynology - Although very similar to the purposes of
paleoecology, Quaternary deals more with more recent environmental and
climate change. This field of study uses quantitive analysis and precise
dating for correlating stratigraphic sequences and reconstructing rats of
environmental change. Studies show that the most influenced environmental
changes have occurred since the appearance of humans.

Non-geological uses - archeaological palynology, forensic palynology.