Airborne fungal spore content in the atmosphere of the city of La Plata, Argentina.

MALLO, A.C; NITIU, D.S.

AEROBIOLOGIA

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2011 vol. 27 p. 77 - 84

0393-5965

The aim of this paper is to present the first aeromycological study of the atmosphere of the city of La Plata. Air samples were taken using a Hirst-type volumetric spore-trap sampler (Lanzoni, VPPS 2000) for a period of a year (July 2000 - June 2001). Seventy-nine morphological types of spores belonging to the Phyla Myxomycota, Zygomycota, Oomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, as well as anamorphs of Higher Fungi were identified. A total of 171670.21 spores/m³ were recorded, with a daily mean of 540 spores/m³. The spores were present throughout the year the study was carried out. However, there was a wide daily fluctuation in the concentration values with a tendency towards an increase during the summer months. The fungal spores were classified in 3 categories: abundant, having 5 spore types; moderate having 12 types; and low, with 62 morphological types which represent 67.2%, 24.2%, and 8.6% respectively. The most representative taxa were: Cladosporium, cladosporioides, Leptosphaeria, Cladosporium herbarum, Coprinus and Agaricus, the first two taxa having a high frequency during the all the whole year of study. This scientific research reveals a great diversity of morphological types in this outdoor environment, showing a strong dominance of the Imperfect Fungi, whose components have seasonal rates.Knowing the microbial composition of outdoor environments is of paramount importance in order to assure an improved air quality, thus helping to reduce health problems in urban populations.