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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.

ABSTRACT: Airborne fungi have significant influence on air quality and may pose adverse effects on human health due to their allergenic and pathogenic effect. We carried out a 1-year survey on the airborne fungal diversity and concentration of indoor and outdoor environments, within the Tianjin University campus. Airborne fungi were sampled using an HAS-100B air sampler. Isolated fungal strains were identified based on morphological and molecular analysis. A total of 641 fungal strains belonging to 173 species and 74 genera were identified in this study. The dominant fungal genera were Cladosporium (29.49%), Alternaria (25.9%), and Epicoccum (6.24%), while the most frequently occurring species were A. alternata (15.44%), C. cladosporioides (11.86%), and E. nigrum (5.77%). The mean fungal concentration at different sites ranged from 0 to 420 CFU/m³, which is lower than the permissive standard level. There was a seasonal variation in the airborne fungal community, while temperature and relative humidity were positively correlated with the fungal concentration and diversity at almost all the sites. Higher fungal diversity was recorded in peak period of human traffic at the two canteens, whereas the two dormitories showed higher fungal diversity in off-peak period. Our study provides the first report on the diversity and concentration of airborne fungal species within different Tianjin University campus environments and clarifies the role played by environmental factors on the analyzed fungal community. Our results may represent valuable information for air quality monitoring and microbial pollution control in densely populated human living environments.

SUBMITTER: Yuan C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9237511 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundFungal spores dispersed in the atmosphere may become cause of different pathological conditions and allergies for human beings. A number of studies have been performed to analyze the diversity of airborne fungi in different environments worldwide, and in particular in many urban areas in China. We investigated, for the first time, the diversity, concentration and distribution of airborne fungi in Tianjin city. We sampled 8 outdoor environments, using open plate method, during a whole winter season. Isolated fungi were identified by morphological and molecular analysis. Environmental factors which could influence the airborne fungi concentration (temperature, humidity, wind speed, and air pressure) were monitored and analyzed. The effect of different urban site functions (busy areas with high traffic flow and commercial activities vs. green areas) on airborne fungal diversity was also analyzed.ResultsA total of 560 fungal strains, belonging to 110 species and 49 genera of Ascomycota (80 %), Basidiomycota (18 %), and Mucoromycota (2 %) were isolated in this study. The dominant fungal genus was Alternaria (22 %), followed by Cladosporium (18.4 %), Naganishia (14.1 %), Fusarium (5.9 %), Phoma (4.11 %), and Didymella (4.8 %). A fungal concentration ranging from 0 to 3224.13 CFU m- 3 was recorded during the whole study. Permutational multivariate analysis showed that the month was the most influential factor for airborne fungal community structure, probably because it can be regarded as a proxy of environmental variables, followed by wind speed. The two analyzed environments (busy vs. green) had no detectable effect on the air fungal community, which could be related to the relatively small size of parks in Tianjin and/or to the study season.ConclusionsOur study shed light on the highly diverse community of airborne fungi characterizing the outdoor environments of Tianjin, and clarified the role that different environmental factors played in shaping the analyzed fungal community. The dominant presence of fungi with potential hazardous effect on human health, such as Alternaria, Cladosporium and Naganishia, deserves further attention. Our results may represent a valuable source of information for air quality monitoring, microbial pollution control, and airborne diseases prevention.

Dataset Information

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

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