Characterization of indoor and outdoor biaerosols in urban, industrial and rural sites using conventional and DNA (fingerprint) based methods

MANUEL M. NEGRIN; MARIA T. DEL PANNO; CLAUDIA TERADA; ALICIA RONCO

Air pollution

Nova Science Publishers

Año: 2008;

At present, bioaerosols are one major issue in air quality studies due to their human related adverse health effects but also regarding their important role on ecosystem functioning. The present study approaches the characterization of indoor (homes) and outdoor bioaerosols in a sampling program carried during 2006-2007 in rural, urban and industrial sites within La Plata area, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Culturable airborne fungal and bacterial communities were collected on DG18 agar and R2 agar plates respectively, using a single stage SKC sampling device. Fungal genera were identified based on their morphological characteristics whilst bacterial study or community structure was performed by denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of PCR 16srDNA bacterial amplifications. Indoor and outdoor total bioaerosol concentrations of all sites were comparable to other reports (GM values between 102 and 103 CFU m-3), however, highest individual fungi indoor value reached GM 26.495 CFU m-3. Analysis of fungal genera by principal component analysis (PCA) evidenced distributions of some genera associated to indoor (Wallemia, Penicillium, Eurotioum, Aspergillus sp) and outdoor (Cladosporium, Alternaria, Fusarium and yeasts) ambient. Site characteristics did not significantly affect distribution, being seasonal sampling time the main influence. With regards to bacterial populations, indoor and outdoor concentrations did not significantly vary, but instead, a more consistently differentiation did arose between sites. When bacterial community structure was analyzed by means of DGGE, banding profiles from all sites revealed the existence of a great diversified culture-based airborne community, while construction of similarity dendrograms exposed patterns with little differentiation among studied sites or between indoor and outdoor ambient.