High diversity of fungi in air particulate matter - PubMed (original) (raw)

High diversity of fungi in air particulate matter

Janine Fröhlich-Nowoisky et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009.

Abstract

Fungal spores can account for large proportions of air particulate matter, and they may potentially influence the hydrological cycle and climate as nuclei for water droplets and ice crystals in clouds, fog, and precipitation. Moreover, some fungi are major pathogens and allergens. The diversity of airborne fungi is, however, not well-known. By DNA analysis we found pronounced differences in the relative abundance and seasonal cycles of various groups of fungi in coarse and fine particulate matter, with more plant pathogens in the coarse fraction and more human pathogens and allergens in the respirable fine particle fraction (<3 microm). Moreover, the ratio of Basidiomycota to Ascomycota was found to be much higher than previously assumed, which might also apply to the biosphere.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

Species richness of airborne fungi: relative proportions of different phyla (A), different classes of Ascomycota (B), and different classes of Basidiomycota (C).

Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.

Seasonal variations in the species richness normalized by the number of investigated air samples (Sn) (A), the ratio of normalized species richness between coarse and fine particles (Sn,c/Sn,f) (B), and the ratio of normalized species richness between Basidiomycota and Ascomycota (Sn,BMC/Sn,AMC) (C). Error bars illustrate inter-sample variability (relative standard error of the arithmetic mean of the species richness of individual samples).

Fig. 3.

Fig. 3.

Seasonal variations in the relative frequency of occurrence (RFO) of selected species of Ascomycota (A) and Basidiomycota (B) in coarse and fine air particulate matter, respectively (c, f).

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