Trans-disciplinary research in synthesis of grass pollen aerobiology and its importance for respiratory health in Australasia

Abstract

Grass pollen is a major trigger for allergic rhinitis and asthma, yet little is known about the timing and levels of human exposure to airborne grass pollen across Australasian urban environments. The relationships between environmental aeroallergen exposure and allergic respiratory disease bridge the fields of ecology, aerobiology, geospatial science and public health. The Australian Aerobiology Working Group comprised of experts in botany, palynology, biogeography, climate change science, plant genetics, biostatistics, ecology, pollen allergy, public and environmental health, and medicine, was established to systematically source, collate and analyse atmospheric pollen concentration data from 11 Australian and six New Zealand sites. Following two week-long workshops, post-workshop evaluations were conducted to reflect upon the utility of this analysis and synthesis approach to address complex multidisciplinary questions. This Working Group described i) a biogeographically dependent variation in airborne pollen diversity, ii) a latitudinal gradient in the timing, duration and number of peaks of the grass pollen season, and iii) the emergence of new methodologies based on trans-disciplinary synthesis of aerobiology and remote sensing data. Challenges included resolving methodological variations between pollen monitoring sites and temporal variations in pollen datasets. Other challenges included "marrying" ecosystem and health sciences and reconciling divergent expert opinion. The Australian Aerobiology Working Group facilitated knowledge transfer between diverse scientific disciplines, mentored students and early career scientists, and provided an uninterrupted collaborative opportunity to focus on a unifying problem globally. The Working Group provided a platform to optimise the value of large existing ecological datasets that have importance for human respiratory health and ecosystems research. Compilation of current knowledge of Australasian pollen aerobiology is a critical first step towards the management of exposure to pollen in patients with allergic disease and provides a basis from which the future impacts of climate change on pollen distribution can be assessed and monitored.

Pollen DNA barcoding: current applications and future prospects

“…Plant pollen is one of the major allergens contributing to respiratory disease, and causes a substantial economic burden in terms of the number of drugs purchased, clinics visited, and loss of productivity due to employees being absent from work (D'Amato et al 2005;Davies et al 2015). Disease symptom severity differs based on the taxonomic origin of the pollen allergen (Hrabina et al 2008) and the aeroallergen concentration (Hrabina et al 2008;Erbas et al 2012).…”

“…Disease symptom severity differs based on the taxonomic origin of the pollen allergen (Hrabina et al 2008) and the aeroallergen concentration (Hrabina et al 2008;Erbas et al 2012). Both patients and health services have more control over health problems when they have access to this information (Davies et al 2015;Kraaijeveld et al 2015). Many pollen-monitoring programs have been implemented to date, but the current methodology used makes them unsuitable to implement in continent-wide networks (Kraaijeveld et al 2015).…”

Climate change and allergy in Australia: an innovative, high-income country, at potential risk

“…Since 2013, initially through an Australian Aerobiology Working Group, and more recently as the AusPollen Partnership, experts in botany, palynology, biogeography, climate change science, plant genetics, biostatistics, ecology, pollen allergy, public and environmental health, and medicine have come together to collaborate on Australian aeroallergen research and public health practice. 50 This transdisciplinary partnership has achieved a great deal in a relatively short period of time. [16][17][18]50,51 Australia has demonstrated its capacity to innovate at the cutting edge of this field.…”

High Levels of Allergenic Tree Pollen in Southern New Zealand

“…With the exception of the Palmerston North study of pine pollen, none of these papers focused on tree pollen. Recently, a series of publications have reviewed the available information about allergenic pollen levels in Australia and New Zealand and highlighted the emphasis placed to date on grass pollen [12][13][14][15]. As such, little is known about the levels of tree pollen in New Zealand, nor the extent to which such pollens could be contributing to the burden of allergenic rhinitis in New Zealand.…”