Speleomycology of air and rock surfaces in Driny Cave (Lesser Carpathians, Slovakia)

Abstract

This paper is a speleomycological report from Driny Cave in the Lesser Carpathian Mountains, Slovakia. The samples were collected in July 2014 from one location outside and five locations inside the cave. To examine the air, the Air Ideal 3P sampler was used. Samples from the rock surfaces were collected using sterile swabs wetted in physiological saline (0.85% NaCl). The density of filamentous fungi isolated from the air inside and outside the cave ranged from 89.6 to 1284.7 colony-forming units per 1 m 3 of air and from 38.3 to 588.5 CFU per m 2 of the rock surface. Six species of filamentous fungi were isolated from the external air samples, and eleven species of filamentous fungi and three species of yeast-like fungi from the internal air samples. Fungi belonging to the Cladosporium genus were the most frequently isolated species from the internal and the external air. Six species of filamentous fungi and two species of yeast-like fungi were isolated from the surface of the rocks inside the cave and only two species from the samples collected outside the cave. Among the fungi isolated from the rock surfaces most frequently were Penicillium chrysogenum, P. granulatum, and Trichoderma harzianum. The concentration of airborne fungi inside the cave did not exceed official limits and norms stated as safe for health of tourists. However, the species found here can cause degradation of rock surfaces.

Substrate and spatial variables are major determinants of fungal community in karst caves in Southwest China

“…Most of the abundant genera observed in our study were also common in other caves, such as Acremonium , Alternaria , Aspergillus , Cephalotrichum , Cladosporium , Fusarium , Penicillium and Trichoderma (Popović et al, ; Vanderwolf et al, ; Zhang et al, ). Talaromyces , which was dominant in rock samples in this study, was also observed by Ogórek, Dylag, Visnovska, Tancinova, and Zalewski () and Ogórek, Višňovská, and Tančinová (). However, we also found uncommon fungi in this study.…”

“…Talaromyces, which was dominant in rock samples in this study, was also observed by Ogórek, Dylag, Visnovska, Tancinova, and Zalewski (2016) and Ogórek, Višňovská, and Tančinová (2016). However, we also found uncommon fungi in this study.…”

“…Because of the lack of studies, fungal dispersal in caves remains poorly understood. Ogórek, Dylag, et al () and Ogórek, Višňovská, et al () investigated airborne fungi and RIF in caves in Slovakia and found that they decreased from the entrance to the bottom of the cave. In contrast, in the study performed by Man (), an increasing trend for airborne fungi was found in Heshang Cave.…”

Phenotypic and genotypic diversity of airborne fungal spores in Demänovská Ice Cave (Low Tatras, Slovakia)

“…This is confirmed by the results of these studies. However, it should be emphasized that the numbers of culturable fungal spores detected in the external and internal air of the Demänovská Ice Cave were at much lower levels than in other Slovakian caves (Ogórek et al 2016b , c , d ). Moreover, they did not exceed the limit of fungal air quality, which, e.g., according to the American Industrial Hygiene Association should not be higher than 1000 airborne spores per m 3 (Choi et al 1999 ).…”

“…Particularly noteworthy are the species of Basidiomycota, because these fungi grow slowly in vitro (Vanderwolf et al 2013 ). On the other hand, currently approximately 39 genera of fungal spores have been detected in the air of Slovakian caves (Nováková 2009 ; Ogórek et al 2016a , b , c , d ). The air samples of the Demänovská Ice Cave contained 9 genera among them.…”