Teratomorphism of pollen of Larix sibirica Ledeb. (Pinaceae Lindl.) in the Arctic urbanized territory

• Main Authors: Vasilevskaya, Natalia Vladimirovna, Domakhina, Anna Dmitrievna
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Masaryk Univerzity 2018
• Subjects: palynomorphology; teratomorphism; Larix sibirica; pollution; Arctic; Murmansk
• Online Access: http://journals.muni.cz/CPR/article/view/12913

This article presents data of palynological research of Larix sibirica Ledeb. (Pinaceae Lindl) in the Arctic climate of Murmansk city, located in the Far North of Russia. The purpose of this study is to research the teratogenesis of the Larix sibirica pollen in the conditions of the Arctic climate and technogenic pollution of the city of Murmansk and holding the palynoindication of the environment. In the tested samples of pollen of L. sibirica, five morphological anomalies of the development were defined: pollen without protoplast, with plasmolysed protoplast, with damaged exine, giant pollen grains and dwarfed. The proportion of teratomorphs in the samples varies from 76 to 81%, which is above the control values of 2.5 – 3 times. Most of the abnormal grains are represented by pollen with plasmolysed protoplast (58 – 64%) and without protoplast (11 – 18%). Giant, dwarf pollen grains and pollen with exine damage are much less common. High level of teratogenesis of L. sibirica allows us to draw a conclusion about the critical level of pollution of the city environment.