Prevalence of airborne basidiospores in three coastal cities of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Seasonal and diurnal variations of airborne basidiomycetous spores concentrations (basidiospores, smuts and rust spores) were studied using Burkard Volumetric Spore Traps in three major coastal cities viz., Dammam, Jeddah and Jizan in Saudi Arabia. The distance between the sites was approximately 1600 km from East to West. In addition to numerous airborne deuteromycetous spores identified at all sites, a considerable concentration of basidiomycetous spores were also recorded. The data revealed that basidiospores constituted a maximum of 17% of the total air spora in Jizan, while the maximum for Dammam and Jeddah was 11% each. Spores from smuts constituted the highest percentages of all basidiosmycetous spores ranging between 9-33% and 12-33% respectively in Dammam and Jizan. In Jeddah, it constituted between 14-26%. In contrast, rusts were less frequent at all sites. Maximum concentration of basidiospores showed that at certain months the level reached between 1000-6000 m )3 . The data did not exhibit any seasonal pattern in their maximum appearance. Maximum concentration of smuts were much higher compared to basidiospores and the level fluctuated between 500-4000 m )3 . Rusts were low in concentration (<150 m )3 ). The diurnal pattern of basidiospores concentration for at least one site (Jizan) averaged over the year showed a nocturnal trend consistent with basidiospores active discharge. The other two sites had no such trend. Diel periodicities of smuts and rusts spores did not exhibit any clear pattern. The study suggests that even in coastal regions having the same climatic conditions with a slightly different geography, show variation in basidiospores concentrations.

First fungal spore calendar of the middle-west of the Iberian Peninsula

“…It was not frequent to find Ganoderma or Coprinus basidiospores during the hottest hours of the day, as Aira et al (2003) already observed, in order to avoid draining, being observed a daily periodicity in hourly concentrations which increase at night coinciding their behaviour with the daily pattern of relative humidity and temperature (AEMET), which could be the reason for the fact that their capture in the air is negatively correlated with the daily total sunshine. A similar intra-day distribution pattern with high Coprinus/Ganoderma spore counts at night has been reported by Hasnain et al (2005) and Almaguer et al (2014) and a progressive drop until late afternoon by Stępalska and Wołek (2009).…”

Allergenicity of airborne basidiospores and ascospores: need for further studies

“…In the tropics, they seem to be prevalent throughout the year with the rainy season (Spring and Fall) showing the highest concentrations (D'Amato and Spieksma 1995;Bush and Portnoy 2001;Burton and Katelaris 2010;Quintero et al 2010). There are also differences in the predominant fungi, with mitosporic fungi (e.g., Alternaria sp., Cladosporium sp., Aspergillus/Penicillium) being more prevalent in temperate regions, but basidiospores and ascospores predominating in tropical areas (Hasnain et al 2005;Ceter and Pinar 2009;Burton and Katelaris 2010;Quintero et al 2010). …”

Contribution of fungi to primary biogenic aerosols in the atmosphere: wet and dry discharged spores, carbohydrates, and inorganic ions

“…Species in the biological kingdom of Fungi (Eumycota) can be grouped into the four divisions (phyla) Ascomycota (AM), Basidiomycota (BM), Chytridiomycota (CM), and Zygomycota (ZM) (Webster and Weber, 2007). Most of the fungal species found in the biosphere and atmosphere belong to AM and BM (Gregory and Sreeramulu, 1958;Chatterjee and Hargreave, 1974;Calderon et al, 1995;Decco et al, 1998;Newson et al, 2000;Kendrick, 2001;Troutt and Levetin, 2001;Helbling et al, 2002;Boreson et al, 2004;Hasnain et al, 2004;Fang et al, 2005;Hasnain et al, 2005;Zoppas et al, 2006;Butinar et al, 2007). CM and ZM are less frequently detected in the atmosphere.…”

“…Blandford, UK (August) (Frankland and Gregory, 1973) ≤4.4 Didymella exitialis Edinburgh, UK (July-October) (Richardson, 1996) 0.03-5.9 Venturia inaequalis Northern Italy (March-April) (Rossi et al, 2003) (Decco et al, 1998) 0-0.25 Smuts Rochester, USA (April-September) (Decco et al, 1998) 0-0.5 various Rochester, USA (April-September) (Decco et al, 1998) 0.1-5.5 various Oklahoma, USA (May) (Troutt and Levetin, 2001) 0.6-1.6 various Oklahoma, USA (September) (Sterling et al, 1999) ≤3 various Oklahoma, USA (May-November) (Levetin, 1990) ≤30 various Harpenden, UK (July-September) Hirst, 1952) 0.3-1000 various Chichester, UK (July) (Gregory and Sreeramulu, 1958) ≤10 various Cardiff, UK (June-October) (Adams et al, 1968) 5.4 various Derby, UK (January-December) (Newson et al, 2000) ≤3 various Bern, Switzerland (June-October) (Helbling et al, 2002) 0.5-6 various Saudi Arabia (January-December) (Hasnain et al, 2005) 0-0.15 Rusts Saudi Arabia (January-December) (Hasnain et al, 2005) 0.5-4 Smuts Saudi Arabia (January-December) (Hasnain et al, 2005) ≤4.6 various Mexico City, Mexico (January-November) (Calderon et al, 1995) 1.3-2.9 various Taiwan (April-September) (Wu et al, 2004) 0.06 Rusts Taiwan (September-April) (Wu et al, 2004) 0.5 Smuts Taiwan (September-April) (Wu et al, 2004) 2.5-24 various Caxias do Sul, Brazil (January-December) (Zoppas et al, 2006) 3.6 Rusts Balbina, Brazil (July) this work 9.2 Smuts Balbina, Brazil (July) this work …”