Seasonal variation of the dominant allergenic fungal aerosols - One year study from southern Indian region.

Quantitative estimations of fungal aerosols are important to understand their role in causing respiratory diseases to humans especially in the developing and highly populated countries. In this study we sampled and quantified the three most dominantly found allergenic airborne fungi, Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium cladosporioides, and Alternaria alternata from ambient PM10 samples using the quantitative PCR (qPCR) technique in a southern tropical Indian region, for one full year. Highest concentrations of A. fumigatus and C. cladosporioides were observed during monsoon whereas A. alternata displayed an elevated concentration in winter. The meteorological parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and precipitation exhibited a substantial influence on the atmospheric concentrations of allergenic fungal aerosols. The morphological features of various allergenic fungal spores present in the PM10 were investigated and the spores were found to possess distinct structural features. In a maiden attempt over this region we correlate the ambient fungal concentrations with the epidemiological allergy occurrence to obtain firsthand and preliminary information about the causative fungal allergen to the inhabitants exposed to bioaerosols. Our findings may serve as an important reference to atmospheric scientists, aero-biologists, doctors, and general public.

Terrestrial Macrofungal Diversity from the Tropical Dry Evergreen Biome of Southern India and Its Potential Role in Aerobiology.

Macrofungi have long been investigated for various scientific purposes including their food and medicinal characteristics. Their role in aerobiology as a fraction of the primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs), however, has been poorly studied. In this study, we present a source of macrofungi with two different but interdependent objectives: (i) to characterize the macrofungi from a tropical dry evergreen biome in southern India using advanced molecular techniques to enrich the database from this region, and (ii) to assess whether identified species of macrofungi are a potential source of atmospheric PBAPs. From the DNA analysis, we report the diversity of the terrestrial macrofungi from a tropical dry evergreen biome robustly supported by the statistical analyses for diversity conclusions. A total of 113 macrofungal species belonging to 54 genera and 23 families were recorded, with Basidiomycota and Ascomycota constituting 96% and 4% of the species, respectively. The highest species richness was found in the family Agaricaceae (25.3%) followed by Polyporaceae (15.3%) and Marasmiaceae (10.8%). The difference in the distribution of commonly observed macrofungal families over this location was compared with other locations in India (Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and West Bengal) using two statistical tests. The distributions of the terrestrial macrofungi were distinctly different in each ecosystem. We further attempted to demonstrate the potential role of terrestrial macrofungi as a source of PBAPs in ambient air. In our opinion, the findings from this ecosystem of India will enhance our understanding of the distribution, diversity, ecology, and biological prospects of terrestrial macrofungi as well as their potential to contribute to airborne fungal aerosols.