SEM and FTIR investigation of molecular composition changes in allergenic common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris L.) and hazel (Corylus avellana) pollen induced by traffic pollution

Abstract

Nowadays pollen allergies become an increasing problem for human population. Mugwort ( Artemisia vulgaris) and hazel ( Corylus avellana ) are major herbaceous allergenic plants in Europe [1‐3]. In this study the effect of vehicle pollutants on the structure and chemical composition of mugwort and hazel pollen were investigated. For this purpose pollen of the respective plants were collected from three sites with different vehicle pollution level. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and curve‐fitting analysis of amide I profile was performed to assess the structural changes of mugwort and hazel pollen. SEM imaging did not reveal any differences in shape or any physical degradation of the hazel (Fig. 1a, b) and mugwort (Fig. 1c, d) pollen grains collected from the different sites. It was found that infrared spectra look the same for pollen collected at sites with high traffic pollution. Conversely, they differ a lot from spectra of respective pollen types collected from sites without pollution. Moreover, structural changes in proteins, observed in the second derivative of the FTIR spectra and in the curve‐fitting analysis of amide I profile, are a consequence of mutations occurring in the genetic material of pollen, which can be caused inter alia by air pollutants [4]. The results suggest, that mugwort and hazel pollen chemical composition may be a good indicator of air quality and FTIR may be applied in biomonitoring.