Electrostatic forces in wind-pollination—Part 1: Measurement of the electrostatic charge on pollen |
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| Institution: | 1. National Exposure Research Laboratory, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA;2. GlaxoSmithKline, Technology Development Department, RTP, NC 27709, USA;1. Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States;2. Department of Pharmaceutics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, United States;1. Institute of Horticulture, Shanxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taiyuan 030031, China;2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China;3. Key Laboratory for Insect-Pollinator Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100093, China;1. Dynamics and Control of Complex Systems Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA;2. Leaf Biomechanics and Ecohydrology Research Group (L-BERG), Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA;3. Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Oregon State University-Cascades, Bend, Oregon, USA;1. Université de Lille, Physicochimie des Processus de Combustion et de l’Atmosphère, UMR CNRS 8522, 59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq Cedex, France;2. Université Ziane Achour de Djelfa, Laboratoire de Dispositifs Micro-ondes et Matériaux pour les Energies Renouvelables, Algeria;3. Armand Trousseau Children Hospital, Biochemistry Department, Allergy & Environment team, 26 avenue du Dr. Arnold Netter, 75571 Paris, France;4. Pasteur Institute, Infections & Epidemiology Department, 25-28 Rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris 15, France;5. Université de Lille, Laboratoire de Spectrochimie Infrarouge et Raman, CNRS UMR 8516, 59655 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France;1. Plant Physiology, Pharmaceutical and Health Sciences Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universidad San Pablo-CEU Universities, 28668 Boadilla del Monte, Spain;2. Allergy Section, General Hospital, Ciudad Real, Spain |
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| Abstract: | Under fair weather conditions, a weak electric field exists between negative charge induced on the surface of plants and positive charge in the air. This field is magnified around points (e.g. stigmas) and can reach values up to 3×106 V m?1. If wind-dispersed pollen grains are electrically charged, the electrostatic force (which is the product of the pollen's charge and the electric field at the pollen's location) could influence pollen capture. In this article, we report measurements of the electrostatic charge carried by wind-dispersed pollen grains. Pollen charge was measured using an adaptation of the Millikan oil-drop experiment for seven anemophilous plants: Acer rubrum, Cedrus atlantica, Cedrus deodara, Juniperus virginiana, Pinus taeda, Plantago lanceolata and Ulmus alata. All species had charged pollen, some were positive others negative. The distributions (number of pollen grains as a function of charge) were bipolar and roughly centered about zero although some distributions were skewed towards positive charges. Most pollen carried small amounts of charge, 0.8 fC in magnitude, on average. A few carried charges up to 40 fC. For Juniperus, pollen charges were also measured in nature and these results concurred with those found in the laboratory. For nearly all charged pollen grains, the likelihood that electrostatics influence pollen capture is evident. |
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