Airborne fungal succession in a rice field of Cuba

Abstract

This study characterised the airborne mycobiota of a rice plantation in Bauta (Havana, Cuba), with a view to improving crop quality. Culturable airborne fungi were sampled between March 2007 and February 2008 using a volumetric method (SAS Super 100) with potato dextrose agar as culture medium. The total fungal count was 51,425 cfu/m 3 . The 39 filamentous genera identified included several major rice pathogens (Bipolaris, Curvularia, Alternaria, Pyricularia, Cercospora and Fusarium) as well as potentially mycotoxigenic species of Fusarium, Penicillium and Aspergillus. Analysis of the influence of weather-related factors on spore counts revealed that total counts and Penicillium counts correlated positively with daily relative humidity, mean temperature and dew point.

Study of airborne fungus spores by viable and non-viable methods in Havana, Cuba

“…Its presence has been previously reported in Cuba (Arnold et al, 1987;Rojas et al, 2002;Herrera et al, 2003;Almaguer et al, 2012), but this is the first time that the two aforementioned spore types were defined and identified. The presence of C. tenuissimum in outdoor environments was reported for the first time.…”

“…Epicoccum and Monodictys are cosmopolitan fungi, which can develop in different environments. They have been cited in previous studies of the Cuban atmosphere (Estrada de la Riva, 1951;Fuentes, 1958;Arnold et al, 1987;Herrera et al, 2003;Almaguer et al, 2012;) and the world (Nikkels et al, 1996;Oliveira et al, 2009;Nitiu et al, 2010). Spegazzinia, an uncommon fungus in the atmosphere, has also been detected in our study.…”

“…The diversity of species in Fusarium has been previously documented in the Havana atmosphere (Arnold et al, 1987) and in a rural area close to Havana (Almaguer et al, 2012). However, in none of these studies, the presence of Fusarium graminearum was reported.…”

“…Aspergillus flavus, A. niger and P. citrinum were most concentrated or frequent. These species together with the rest of both genera were observed in indoor or outdoor atmospheres by the cultivationbased method Almaguer et al, 2012). Nevertheless, the non-frequent species A. foetidus, P. digitatum and P. griseofulveum are new citations for the Cuban atmosphere.…”

“…More recently, the use of viable volumetric methods allowed to identify the most common fungi in the atmosphere of Havana (Rojas et al, 2007) and to assess the activity of fungal plant pathogens that affect rice (Almaguer et al, 2012). However, outdoor studies are scarce, and most of them were focused on the assessment of the fungal destructive effect on cultural heritage (Borrego et al, 2010;Borrego & Perdomo, 2012; or about the air quality evaluation in homes (Aira et al, 2002).…”