FROM TERRIFYING TOXINS TO FUME HOOD-FREE PROCESSING: INNOVATIVE PALYNOLOGY PREPARATION MAKES YOU SAFER, ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY, AND IMPROVES YOUR PALYNOMORPH RECOVERY

NUÑEZ OTAÑO N.B.; JENNIFER M.K. OKEEFE

Puerto Madryn

Congreso; RCAPA 2018; 2018

APA, CENPAT-CONICET, IPGP-CONICET

The main goal of palynological preparation is to isolate palynomorphs from rocks and sediments, concentrate them and prepare them to study under the microscope, avoiding any modifications of shape, size and preservation and contamination of the assemblage. Palynomorphs are obtain using a wide variety of physical and chemical procedures depending upon several factors such as lithology, mineralogy, level of induration, organic-richness, etc. Currently the most widespread procedure to extract palynomorphs is using strong mineral acids (HCL and HF) but this procedure is both hazardous and expensive, both in terms of chemicals and operator time. For Quaternary samples is common to use acetolysis/acetolization as a procedure but this method is also a health risk and produces hazardous waste. The development of palynological preparation techniques that do not use mineral acids clearly demonstrate that viable alternatives to the acid digestion method exist and we can find several articles describing new techniques. We present here a safer and probably quicker processing enzyme-method as an alternative to acetolysis for palynological preparation. Safety has long been a concern with acetolysis/acetolization in other laboratories around the globe, especially where fume hoods and other basic safety equipment are not available or are in short supply. Enzymatic techniques for isolating protoplasts are standard practice in plant biology, and the enzymes utilized can be adjusted to target specific cell wall components. The technique introduced by Schols et al. (2004) with slightly modifications provides a relatively low-cost option to accomplish processing of Quaternary samples.