Pollen morphological study of selected plants from Erkowit (North-Eastern Sudan)
Keywords:
pollen class, surface sculpture, pollen shape, taxonomic attributes
Abstract
Pollen grains of a total number of 51 species belonging to 43 genera and 30 Angiosperm families from Erkowit, northeastern Sudan were examined. Representatives of the various ecological zones and species recorded in Quaternary deposits of Sudan were among the species selected for the present study. These pollen grains were acetolysed, qualitatively and qualitatively described and illustrated using both light microscope (LM) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). 14 pollen classes, 13 surface sculpturing patterns and 9 shape classes were encountered within the material examined and a possible correlation between size and habitats was discussed. The present study represents the first regional pollen morphological study to serve as a pollen reference collection of the area as a contribution to future studies in various related disciplines.
References
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Wickens, G.E. 1976. The flora of Jebel Marra and its geographical affinity. Her Majesty's Stationary Office, London.
Yagi, S., Khristova, P. & Khalid, S.A. 2012. Chemotaxonomical and palynological studies on nine Acacia species occurring in Sudan. Journal of Plant Studies, 1(2): 61-67.
Zerihun, W. & Backeus, I. 1991. The shrubland vegetation in Western Shewa, Ethiopia and its possible recovery. Journal of Vegetation Science, 2(2): 173-180.
Abdalla, W.E., Guma'a, A.N., El Ghazali, G.E.B. & Khalid, H.E. 2016. An updated species check-list for the genus Cassia L. sensu lato in The Sudan. Journal of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, 4(2): 1-12.
Abreu, I., Ribeiro, H. & Cunha M. 2003. An aeropalynological study of the Porto region (Portugal). Aerobiologia, 19: 235-241.
Banks, H., &Rudall, P.J. 2016. Pollen structure and function in Caesalpinioid legumes. American Journal of Botany, 103: 423-436.
Collenette, S. 1985. An illustrated guide to the flowers of Saudi Arabia. Scorpion Publishing, Ltd., London.
Edlund, A.F., Swanson, R. &Preuss, D. 2004. Pollen and stigma structure and function: the role of diversity in pollination. The Plant Cell, 16: S84-S97.
Ejsmond, M.J., Wronska-Pilarek, D., Ejsmind, A., Dragosz-Kluska, D., Karpinska-Kolaczek, M., Kolaczek, P. & Kozlowski, J. 2011. Does climate affect pollen morphology? Optimal size and shape of pollen grains under various desiccation intensity. Ecosphere, 2(10): 1-15.
El Ghazali, G.E.B. 1993. A study on the pollen flora of Sudan. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 76(2): 99-345.
El Ghazali, G.E.B. 2014. Pollen morphological study on the genus Cassia L. sensu strict from Sudan. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 8(6): 436-443.
El Ghazali, G.E.B. & Tsuji, S.I. 1998. Intra-specific pollen morphological variations in ten tropical species growing in Sudan. Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research, 16(1): 97-112.
Erdtman, G. 1952. Pollen morphology and plant taxonomy: Angiosperms. Almqvist and Wiksell, Stockholm
Erdtman, G. 1960. The acetolysis method. Svensk Botisk Tidskrift, 54(4): 561-564.
Faegri, K. &Iversen, J. 1989. Textbook of pollen analysis. IV Edition by K. Faegri, P.E. Kaland and K. Krzywinski. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester.
Gabr, D.G.I. 2018. Taxonomic importance of pollen morphology for some species of Brassicaceae. Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, 21(5): 215-223.
Hao, K., Tian, Z.X., Wang, Z.C. & Huang, S.Q. 2020. Pollen size associated with pollinator feeding strategy. Proceedings of the Royal Society B (Biological Sciences), 287(1933): 20201191.
Harrison, M.N. & Jackson, J.K. 1958. Ecological classification of the vegetation of The Sudan. Sudan Forests Bulletin (New series), 2: 1-45.
Hellman, S., Gaillard, M.J., Bunting, J.M. & Mazier, F. 2009. Estimating the relevant source area of pollen in the past cultural landscapes of southern Sweden - a forward modeling approach. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, 153(3-4): 259-271.
Jones, G.D. 2012. Pollen extraction from insects. Palynology, 36(1): 86-109.
Kassas, M. 1956. The mist oasis of Erkwit, Sudan. Journal of Ecology, 44: 180-194.
Katifori, E., Alber, S., Cerda, E., Nelson, D.R. & Dumais, J. 2010. Foldable structures and the natural design of pollen grains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, 107(17): 7635-7639.
Kordofani, M. &Ingrouille, M. 1992. Geographical variation in the pollen of Acacia (Mimosaceae) in Sudan. Grana, 31(2): 113-118.
Kunes, P., Pelankova, B., Chytry, M., Jankovska, V., Pokorny, P., Petr, L. & Birks, J. 2006. Interpretation of the last glacial vegetation of eastern-central Europe using modern analogues from southern Siberia. Journal of Biogeography, 35(12): 2223-2236.
Meltsov, V., Poska, A. & Saar, M. 2008. Pollen size in Carex: the effect of different chemical treatments and mounting media. Grana, 47(3): 220-233.
Miklas, K.J. 1985. The aerodynamics of wind pollination. The Botanical Review, 51(3): 328-386.
Morgan, R.M., Davies, G., Balestri, F. & Bull, P.A. 2013. The recovery of pollen evidence from documents and its forensic implications. Science & Justice, 53(4): 375-384.
Ponnuchamy, R., Bonhomme, V., Prasad, S., Das, L., Patel, P., Gaucherel, C., Pragasam, A. & Anupama, K. 2014. Honey pollen: using melissopalynology to understand foraging preferences of bees in Tropical South India. PLoS ONE, 9(7): e101618.
POWO 2022. Plants of the World Online. viewed20April 2022, from http://powo.science.kew.org/.
Rejon, J.D., Delalande, F., Schaeffer-Reiss, C., Alche, J.D., Rodriguez-Garcia, M.I., Dorsselaer, A.V. & Castro, A.J. 2016. The pollen coat proteome: at the cutting edge of plant reproduction. Proteomes, 4(1): 5.
Ritchie, J.C. 1987. A Holocene pollen record from BirAtrun, Northern Sudan. Pollen et Spores, 29(4): 391-410.
Sadori, L., Koutsodendris, A., Panagiotopoulos, K., Masi, A., Bertini, A., Combourieu-Nebout, N. & Francke, A. 2016. Pollen-based paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic change at Lake Ohrid (South-eastern Europe) during the past 500 ka. Biogeoscienes, 13(5): 1423-1437.
Sannier, J., Baker, W.J., Anstett, M.C. & Nadot, S. 2009. A comparative analysis of pollinator type and pollen ornamentation in the Araceae and the Arecaceae, two unrelated families of the monocots. BMC Research Notes, 2(1):145.
Singer, R.B. & Sazima, M. 2001. Flower morphology and pollination mechanism in three sympatric Goodyerinae Orchids from Southeastern Brazil. Annals of Botany, 88(6): 989-997.
Vossler, F.G. 2015. Small pollen grain volumes and sizes dominate the diet composition of three south American subtropical stingless bees. Grana, 54(1): 68-81.
Ward, L.G., Zaprowski, B.J., Trainer, K.D. & Davis, P.T. 2008. Stratigraphy, pollen history and geochronology of tidal marshes in a Gulf of Maine estuarine system: climatic and relative sea level impacts. Marine Geology, 256(1-4): 1-17.
White, F. 1983. The vegetation of Africa- a descriptive memoir to vegetation map of Africa, UNESCO.
Wickens, G.E. 1976. The flora of Jebel Marra and its geographical affinity. Her Majesty's Stationary Office, London.
Yagi, S., Khristova, P. & Khalid, S.A. 2012. Chemotaxonomical and palynological studies on nine Acacia species occurring in Sudan. Journal of Plant Studies, 1(2): 61-67.
Zerihun, W. & Backeus, I. 1991. The shrubland vegetation in Western Shewa, Ethiopia and its possible recovery. Journal of Vegetation Science, 2(2): 173-180.
Published
2022-10-22
Section
Articles
