Environmental Factors Shaping the Diversity and Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Indoor and Outdoor Culturable Airborne Fungal Communities in Tianjin University Campus, Tianjin, China

Yuan, Chaonan; Wang, Xiao; Pecoraro, Vincent L.

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2022.928921

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Spores of Cladosporium species are known to be widely dispersed in the air globally, and are the major airborne spores in temperate areas 35 . Our study results are consistent with other results 23 , 49 , 61 – 63 . Out of 772 taxa of Cladosporium, only 170 has recently been recognized as distinct species with C. cladosporioides, C. herbarum, and C. sphaerospermum being considered the three major species complexes 64 .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 94%

Bioaerosol assessment in indoor and outdoor environments: a case study from India

Jabeen,

Kizhisseri,

Mayanaik

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Exposure to bioaerosols has been associated with the occurrence of a variety of health impacts, including infectious illnesses, acute toxic effects, allergies, and cancer. This study aimed at evaluating airborne bacteria and fungi populations at different indoor and outdoor sites on a college campus in Bengaluru, India. Bioaerosol samples were collected using a two-stage Andersen air sampler; and isolates were identified using standard procedures. Six air samples and meteorological data were collected in March and April 2014 to examine the effects of temperature and relative humidity on bioaerosol concentration using linear regression modeling. Among all sites, the canteen showed the highest bioaerosol levels both indoors and outdoors. Specific bacterial identification was not possible, but gram staining and microscopic analysis helped to identify gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The most prevalent fungal species in the samples were Cladosporium, Aspergillus niger, Penicillium, Rhizopus, Fusarium, Mucor, and Alternaria. Due to the impact of weather conditions, such as temperature and relative humidity, the bioaerosol concentration varied greatly at each site according to the regression model. The indoor bioaerosol concentrations at all sites exceeded the values established by the American Industrial Hygiene Association (< 250 CFU/m3 for total fungi and < 500 CFU/m3 for total bacteria). Higher concentrations of bioaerosols may be attributed to the transportation of microbes from the ground surface to suspended particles, the release of microbes from the respiratory tract, higher rate of shredding of human skin cells, and many other factors.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 94%

Bioaerosol assessment in indoor and outdoor environments: a case study from India

Jabeen,

Kizhisseri,

Mayanaik

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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“…In a study conducted on infants with asthma, Gent et al (2002) reported that the higher Penicillium concentrations were linked to a higher likelihood of wheezing and chronic cough. Seasonal changes in the environment are known to determine important variations in outdoor airborne fungal communities (Larsen, 1981;Kumar et al, 2021;Núñez et al, 2021;Yuan et al, 2022). We found a significant difference in fungal concentration in the analyzed environments in Tianjin, with the highest level recorded in spring and the lowest in winter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Seasonal changes in the environment are known to determine important variations in outdoor airborne fungal communities ( Larsen, 1981 ; Kumar et al, 2021 ; Núñez et al, 2021 ; Yuan et al, 2022 ). We found a significant difference in fungal concentration in the analyzed environments in Tianjin, with the highest level recorded in spring and the lowest in winter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variation of airborne fungal diversity and community structure in urban outdoor environments in Tianjin, China

Nageen

Wang²,

Pecoraro³

2023

Front. Microbiol.

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Airborne fungi are ubiquitous in human living environments and may be a source of respiratory problems, allergies, and other health issues. A 12 months study was performed to investigate the diversity, concentration and community structure of culturable airborne fungi in different outdoor environments of Tianjin City, using an HAS-100B air sampler. A total of 1,015 fungal strains belonging to 175 species and 82 genera of Ascomycota 92.5%, Basidiomycota 7%, and Mucoromycota 0.3% were isolated and identified using morphological and molecular analysis. The most abundant fungal genera were Alternaria 35%, Cladosporium 18%, Penicillium 5.6%, Talaromyces 3.9%, Didymella 3%, and Aspergillus 2.8%, while the most frequently occurring species were A. alternata (24.7%), C. cladosporioides (11%), A. tenuissima (5.3%), P. oxalicum (4.53%), and T. funiculosus (2.66%). The fungal concentration ranged from 0 to 340 CFU/m3 during the whole study. Environmental factors, including temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and air pressure exerted a varying effect on the presence and concentration of different fungal taxa. The four analyzed seasons showed significantly different airborne fungal communities, which were more strongly influenced by air temperature and relative humidity in spring and summer, whereas wind speed and air pressure had a stronger effect in autumn and winter. Fungal communities from green and busy sites did not show significant differences over the four analyzed seasons, which may be due to the effect of the surrounding environments characterized by high human activities on the air of the relatively small parks present in Tianjin. The present study provided valuable information on the seasonal dynamics and the environmental factors shaping the diversity and concentration of the analyzed outdoor airborne fungal communities, which can be of help for air quality monitoring, microbial contamination control, and health risk assessment in urban environments.

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“…Sampling of airborne fungi was carried out in Tianjin University campus, Tianjin city, China. This study was conducted as part of a larger work, which analyzed the whole airborne fungal community in the selected university environments [ 25 ]. Six different sites, including one outdoor and five indoor environments, were selected to collect the air samples (see Yuan et al, 2022 [ 25 ] for details).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This study was conducted as part of a larger work, which analyzed the whole airborne fungal community in the selected university environments [ 25 ]. Six different sites, including one outdoor and five indoor environments, were selected to collect the air samples (see Yuan et al, 2022 [ 25 ] for details). The sampling was conducted every month, from June 2020 to May 2021.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pathogenicity of Aspergillus Airborne Fungal Species Collected from Indoor and Outdoor Public Areas in Tianjin, China

Nafis,

Quach,

Al-Shaarani

et al. 2023

Pathogens

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Airborne fungi play an important role in air pollution and may have various negative effects on human health. In particular, Aspergillus fungi are pathogenic to humans and several domestic animals. In this work, Aspergillus strains isolated from airborne fungal communities sampled from different indoor and outdoor environments in Tianjin University were tested for pathogenicity on Drosophila melanogaster. Airborne fungi were sampled using an HAS-100B air sampler, over a one-year sampling period. Isolated fungal strains were identified based on morphological and molecular analysis. The Aspergillus-centered study was conducted as part of a larger work focusing on the total airborne fungal community in the analyzed environments, which yielded 173 fungal species. In this context, the genus Aspergillus showed the second-highest species richness, with 14 isolated species. Pathogenicity tests performed on male adults of Drosophila melanogaster through a bodily contact bioassay showed that all analyzed airborne Aspergillus species were pathogenic to fruit flies, with high insect mortality rates and shortened lifespan. All the studied fungi induced 100% mortality of fruit flies within 30 culture days, with one exception constituted by A. creber (39 days), while the shortest lifespan (17 days) was observed in fruit flies treated with A. tubingensis. Our results allow us to hypothesize that the studied airborne fungal species may have a pathogenic effect on humans, given the affinity between fruit flies and the human immune system, and may help to explain the health risk linked with Aspergillus fungi exposure in densely populated environments.

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Environmental Factors Shaping the Diversity and Spatial-Temporal Distribution of Indoor and Outdoor Culturable Airborne Fungal Communities in Tianjin University Campus, Tianjin, China

Cited by 13 publications

References 64 publications

Bioaerosol assessment in indoor and outdoor environments: a case study from India

Bioaerosol assessment in indoor and outdoor environments: a case study from India

Seasonal variation of airborne fungal diversity and community structure in urban outdoor environments in Tianjin, China

Pathogenicity of Aspergillus Airborne Fungal Species Collected from Indoor and Outdoor Public Areas in Tianjin, China

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