Opportunistic Fungi in the Polluted Soils of Kola Peninsula

Abstract

The species diversity and the structure of the opportunistic fungi complexes in the forest Albic Podzols under the impact of the Aluminum and Copper-Nickel Plants emissions, as well as in the Hortic Anthrosol contaminated by the oil products (diesel fuel, gas condensate, mazut) in the north-west region of Russia (the Kola Peninsula) have been investigated. The share of the opportunistic fungi increase up to 15% in the zones of the Aluminum and Copper-Nickel Plants emissions comparable to the background soil, and up to 20-25% in the soils contaminated by the oil products has been revealed. The majority of the fungi species belong to the following genera: Penicillium, Aspergillus, Mucor, Lecanicillium, Phoma and Cladosporium. The structure of the fungal complexes has changed in the polluted soil, that is, the species abundance and the frequency of the opportunistic fungi occurrence have increased. The strains of the fungi isolated from the contaminated soil reveal the potential pathogenicity in a greater degree, than the strains isolated from the clean soil. 55% of the total amount of fungi strains isolated from the soils contaminated by the Aluminum Plant emissions had the potential pathogenicity. The most dangerous for a human’s health were Amorphotheca resinae, Aspergillus fumigatus, A. niger, Paecilomyces variotii, Penicillium commune, P. purpurеogenum, Trichoderma viride isolated from the soils contaminated by the Aluminum Plant emissions; and P. aurantiogriseum, P. glabrum, P. commune, P. simplicissimum, Rhizopus nigricans isolated from the soils contaminated by the oil products. Those species revealed protease, phospholipase activity, as well as the growth ability at the temperature 37°C

Microscopic Fungi in Big Cities: Biodiversity, Source, and Relation to Pollution by Potentially Toxic Metals

“…In Moscow, the largest portion of opportunistic fungi was noted in the residential and traffic areas, up to 50-70% of the total number of species; however, the total number of airborne fungi in the residential area was the smallest. Although not related to the concentration of singular pollutants, the fungi of the most dangerous BSL-2 group appeared in the traffic area in both cities, which may indicate a greater resistance of these species to anthropogenic load [13,47,78]. No fungi of this group were found in the air of the recreational zone either in Moscow or in Murmansk.…”

“…Assessment of potentially pathogenic (opportunistic) fungi interaction with urban environmental conditions is important for densely populated agglomerations. Airborne opportunistic fungi are responsible for an increase in the incidence of secondary mycoses, allergies, asthma attacks, and numerous infections [11][12][13][14][15][16]. They can cause human diseases especially in people with weakened immunity or who are otherwise sensitive to a wide range of allergenic and toxigenic biological materials [17,18].…”