Diversity of Soil-Borne Fungi Isolated from Places Frequently Visited by People in the City of Wrocław (Poland)

Abstract

In this study, we identified culturable microscopic fungi in soil from areas frequented by people (parks, allotments, and other green areas) in the city of Wrocław (Poland). In addition to general species analysis, attention was focused on keratin-degrading fungi. From 60 soil samples (12 study sites), we obtained 75 isolates of keratinophilic and keratinolytic fungi using the hair bait method, and 54 isolates of fungi were isolated on PDA (Potato Dextrose Agar) medium. Based on morphological and molecular analyses, a total of 37 strains were identified, classified into 2 phyla, 11 families, 17 genera, and 30 filamentous species. The mean values of the Shannon Diversity Index for both experimental variants ranged from 0.074 to 0.117. The most common species was the Penicillium genus, which accounted for 33.33% of all fungal species obtained in these studies. These fungi are common in both indoor and outdoor environments. However, particularly noteworthy in this study are the species belonging to the group of dermatophytes (Arthroderma uncinatum, Keratinophyton wagnerii, Nannizzia gypsea, and Paraphyton cookei), which may pose a real biological threat to humans and animals due to their well-known potential to cause dermatomycosis.