A comparative study on the airborne fungi in Athens, Greece, by viable and non-viable sampling methods

Abstract

Airborne fungi were studied in the city of Athens using two complementary methods in which 136 concurrent samplings were carried out during the 12-month period from January until December 1998. A portable Burkard air sampler for agar plates was used for trapping the culturable portion of the mycobiota. Nineteen genera of fungi were identified and assessed in terms of total numbers and fluctuations in , Trichoderma and Ulocladium), with the exception of those included in the Sphaeropsidales, the yeasts, and the non-sporulating fungi, which were counted as groups. A volumetric Burkard air sampler for glass slides was operating simultaneously for detecting the total mycobiota, including the non-culturable and the non-viable portion. Ascospores, basidiospores, spores of Myxomycetes, Ustilaginales, Uredinales and Erysiphales, teliospores of Puccinia, as well as conidia of the genera Curvularia, Helminthosporium, Periconia, Pestalotiopsis, Pithomyces, Polythrincium, Stachybotrys, Stemphylium and Torula were also recorded. Only seven of the genera were recovered by both samplers. The total numbers of fungal spores, which had a maximum concentration of 3,175 spores/m 3 , as well as the spore concentrations of the genera Cladosporium (2,565 spores/m 3 ) and Alternaria (280 spores/m 3 ) were underestimated by the viable method (2,435 CFU/m 3 for the total, 2,169 CFU/m 3 for Cladosporium and 180 CFU/m 3 for Alternaria). The non-viable method fails to resolve the identification of the genera Penicillium and Aspergillus, which are major components of the airborne mycobiota (1,068 CFU/m 3 and 204 CFU/m 3 , respectively) based on recovery by the viable method.

Analysis of the potential fungal biodeteriogen effects in the “Doctorate Library” of the University of Perugia, Italy

“…The occurrence of the maximum concentration in July corresponds to the results broadly demonstrated by other studies on the subject: the growth of fungal species is favoured by high levels of relative humidity and air temperature range 18-32˚C, parameters which are often observed during the summer season in our region (Herrero et al, 1996;Pelizzari, 1996;Munuera et al, 2001;Pyrri & Kapsanaki-Gotsi, 2007).…”

Are endophytes an important link between airborne spores and allergen exposure?

“…The seasonality of sporulation observed in taxa like Alternaria, Cladosporium, Penicillium, and others support this hypothesis (i.e. Garrett et al 1997;Henriquez et al 2001;Stennett et al 2004;Pyrri et al 2007;Oliveira et al 2009). The spores of these fungi achieve their highest aerial concentrations in the spring and/or fall at locations where rains and mild temperatures, adequate for fungal growth, occur in these seasons.…”

Aerobiological dynamics of potentially pathogenic fungi in a rice agroecosystem in La Habana, Cuba

“…Quintero et al (2010) suggested that the concentration of fungal spores in the atmosphere of Puerto Rico is increased from August to September. However, the comparison of aerobiological results is very difficult due to geographical, meteorological, and biological differences between the areas that are studied, as well as the impact of humans on ecosystems (Randon et al 2002;Pyrri and Kapsanaki-Gosti 2007). These results could also be affecting the wind speed, variable not recorded in this work and as the temperature and relative air humidity can vary from year to year (Agrios 2005).…”