Description: Numerous studies have focused on occupational and indoor environments because people spend more than 90% of their time in them. Nevertheless, air is the main source of bacteria in indoors, and outdoor exposure is also crucial. Worldwide studies have indicated that bacterial concentrations vary among different types of outdoor environments, with considerable seasonal variations as well. Conducting comprehensive monitoring of atmospheric aerosol concentrations is very important not only for environmental management but also for the assessment of the health impacts of air pollution. To our knowledge, this is the first study to present outdoor and seasonal changes of bioaerosol data regarding an urban area of Poland. This study aimed to characterize culturable bacteria populations present in outdoor air in Gliwice, Upper Silesia Region, Poland, over the course of four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) through quantification and identification procedures. In this study, the samples of bioaerosol were collected using a six-stage Andersen cascade impactor (with aerodynamic cut-off diameters of 7.0, 4.7, 3.3, 2.1, 1.1 and 0.65 μm). Results showed that the concentration of airborne bacteria ranged from 4 CFU m −3 , measured on one winter day, to a maximum equal to 669 CFU m −3 on a spring day. The average size of culturable bacterial aerosol over the study period was 199 CFU m −3 . The maximal seasonally averaged concentration was found in the spring season and reached 306 CFU m −3 , and the minimal seasonally averaged concentration was found in the winter 49 CFU m −3 . The most prevalent bacteria found outdoors were gram-positive rods that form endospores. Statistically, the most important meteorological factors related to the viability of airborne bacteria were temperature and UV radiation. These results may contribute to the promotion and implementation of preventative public health programmes and the formulation of recommendations aimed at providing healthier outdoor environments.

Description: Metabarcoding is a promising DNA-based method for identifying airborne pollen from environmental samples with advantages over microscopic methods. Sample preparation and DNA extraction are of fundamental importance for obtaining an optimal DNA yield. Currently, there is no standard procedure for these steps, especially for gravimetric pollen samplers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop protocols for processing environmental samples for pollen DNA extraction and for metabarcoding analysis and to assess the efficacy of these protocols for the taxonomic assignment of airborne pollen collected by gravimetric (Tauber trap) and volumetric (Hirst-type trap) samplers. Protocols were tested across an increasing complexity of samples, from pure single-species pollen to environmental multi-species samples. A short fragment (about 150 base pairs) of the chloroplast trn L gene was amplified using universal primers for plants. After PCR amplification, amplicons were Sanger-sequenced and taxonomic assignment was accomplished by comparison with a custom-made reference database including chloroplast DNA sequences from most of the anemophilous taxa occurring in the study area (Trentino, northern Italy), representing 46 plant families. Using the classical morphological pollen analysis as a benchmark, we show that DNA metabarcoding is efficient and applicable even in complex samples, provided that protocols for sample preparation, DNA extraction, and metabarcoding analysis are carefully optimized.

Description: Inhalation of airborne fungi is known to cause respiratory illnesses such as allergies. However, the association between exposure and health outcomes remains largely unclear, in part due to lack of knowledge about fungal exposure in daily life. This study aims to introduce DNA-based methods such as high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to compare fungal microbiota and concentrations in indoor, outdoor, and personal air. Five sets of concurrent indoor, outdoor, and personal air samples were collected, each with duration of 4 days. Sequencing analysis revealed greater species richness in personal than indoor air for four out of the five sets, indicating that people are exposed to outdoor species that are not in indoor air. The personal–indoor ( P / I ) and personal–outdoor ( P / O ) ratios of total fungi were 1.2 and 0.15, respectively, suggesting that personal exposure to total fungi is better represented by indoor than outdoor concentrations. However, the ratios were taxon dependent, highlighting the complexity of generalizing personal exposure to the diverse kingdom Fungi. These results demonstrate that the HTS/qPCR method is useful for assessing taxon-specific fungal exposure, which might be difficult to achieve effectively using conventional, non-DNA-based techniques.

Description: Japanese cedar ( Cryptomeria japonica ) pollinosis (JCP), affecting more than a quarter of the Japanese population, is a significant public health problem, due to its negative impact on daily activity. JCP patients have used the four-stage daily pollen deposition information based on the pollen monitoring over 20 years. However, the procedure for monitoring pollen was recently changed dramatically, to hourly average pollen concentration monitoring. In that type of monitoring, JCP patients cannot identify pollen exposure level because the relationship between hourly average pollen concentration and daily pollen deposition is unclear. Based on the parallel monitoring of concentration and deposition counts that we performed in Niigata prefecture, Eastern Japan, we found that the relationship between the daily pollen deposition (pollen cm −2  day −1 ) and the daily-average pollen concentration (pollen m −3 ) calculated from hourly average pollen concentration was not only statistically significant but also consistent with the aerodynamic properties of pollen. Using the relationship, we proposed new range criteria of hourly average pollen concentrations corresponding to the four stages of pollen deposition. Additionally, the conversion of pollen deposition to pollen concentration made the long-term trend analysis of the daily-average pollen concentration possible in this study area, and an increasing trend was identified at one site.

Description: Fungal spores are normal components of external environments. They have been reported to be associated with human, animal and plant diseases causing primary and opportunistic infections. Cladosporium is commonly the most frequently isolated genus from air samples, and its species are considered mainly saprophytic, but there is a wide variety of taxa that can cause adverse effects on human and animal health and also on plants. In this work, we aimed to record Cladosporium spores frequency of isolation in northern Argentinean Patagonia and to perform a molecular characterization based on actin gene complemented with EF1α and ITS genes. The ability of the pathogens to cause disease in pip fruits of Packham’s Triumph and Abate Fetel pears and red delicious apples was determined. Results confirmed Cladosporium spores as the main genera isolated from air samples, and the molecular characterization revealed the existence of 11 species in this region grouped in C. cladosporioides and C. herbarum complexes. Pathogenicity tests revealed that Cladosporium sp. cause disease on fruit. Abate Fetel was the most susceptible to infection. These results compose the first study in Argentina in respect of identification at species level of airborne Cladosporium spores, and furthermore, it is the first report in northern Patagonia and the high valley of Río Negro productive region. This knowledge can help farmers to take preventive measures in order to avoid biological damage.

Description: Introduction Fungal spores constitute an important fraction of bioaerosols in the atmosphere. Objectives To analyse the content of Alternaria and Cladosporium spores in the atmosphere of Beja and the effect of meteorological conditions on their concentrations. Methodology The daily and hourly data of Alternaria and Cladosporium fungal spores concentration in the atmosphere of Beja were monitored from April 12, 2012 to July 30, 2014, based on the Portuguese Aerobiology Network methodology. The influence of meteorological conditions on the studied types of fungal spore concentrations was assessed through Spearman’s correlation analysis. Results During the study period, 20,741 Alternaria spores and 320,862 Cladosporium spores were counted. In 2013, there were 5,822 Alternaria spores and 123,864 Cladosporium spores. The absolute maximum concentrations of Alternaria and Cladosporium spores were recorded on November 8, 2013, with 211 and 1301 spores/m 3 , respectively. Temperature, insolation and wind direction parameters showed a positive correlation with Alternaria and Cladosporium spore levels, while relative humidity and precipitation presented a negative correlation, which is statistically significant. Wind speed only showed a statistically significant positive correlation in terms of Alternaria spore levels. Conclusion Alternaria and Cladosporium spores are present in the atmospheric air of Beja throughout the year, with the highest concentration period occurring during spring and autumn. There was a clear effect of meteorological parameters on airborne concentrations of these fungal spores.

Description: Forecasting daily airborne pollen concentrations is of great importance for management of seasonal allergies. This paper explores the performance of the pollen calendar as the most basic observation-oriented model for predicting daily concentrations of airborne Ambrosia , Betula and Poaceae pollen. Pollen calendars were calculated as the mean or median value of pollen concentrations on the same date in previous years of the available historic dataset, as well as the mean or median value of pollen concentrations of the smoothed dataset, pre-processed using moving mean and moving median. The performance of the models was evaluated by comparing forecasted to measured pollen concentrations at both daily and 10-day-average resolutions. This research demonstrates that the interpolation of missing data and pre-processing of the calibration dataset yields lower prediction errors. The increase in the number of calibration years corresponds to an improvement in the performance of the calendars in predicting daily pollen concentrations. However, the most significant improvement was obtained using four calibration years. The calendar models correspond well to the shape of the pollen curve. It was also found that daily resolution instead of 10-day averages adds to their value by emphasising variability in pollen exposure, which is important for personal assessment of dose-response for pollen-sensitive individuals.

Description: The composition of fungal biota and air quality of five traditional subterranean wine cellars and one store building of a modern wine production facility were examined in the Tokaj wine region (northeastern Hungary). Air samples were collected with SAS IAQ sampler onto PDA, MEA and RBA. Strains representing morphotypes were isolated from colonies formed on agar plates from either air or surface samples. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of the rRNA gene cluster was amplified with primers ITS1 and ITS4. Altogether 90 morphotypes were isolated, 48 and 12 strains (43 species) from the air and surfaces, respectively. The number of spore-forming species generated high diversity of indoor fungi and differences between the cellars’ fungal compositions; however, their dominant species were proved to be the same. Among the isolated strains Penicillium spp. were the most frequent. The walls of cellars were covered by colonies of Zasmidium ( Cladosporium ) cellare often referred to as a noble mold. Even so, this mold has been found only at a small concentration in the air samples (10–30 CFU/m 3 ). The walls of the modern store were free of molds. Diversity of fungi of the examined wine cellars was influenced by environmental conditions to a certain degree, such as elevation (height above sea level), age, reconstruction time of cellars, indoor ethanol concentration and the number of chimneys. The location of cellars poorly influenced the concentration of fungi of the air inside cellars, contrary to outdoors where the air of the municipal area contained more CFUs than that of rural spaces.

Description: This paper analyses long-term (1960–2015) onset of flowering in 16 native terrestrial plants (11 of them produce important allergens) recorded in different parts of the Czech Republic (southern, central and northern part) in relation to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index of the preceding winter and thermal data—growing degree-days (GDD) and soil temperature. Flowering occurred significantly earlier following positive winter NAO phases (causing spring to be warmer than normal in Central Europe) in nearly all early-flowering (February, March, April) species; high Pearson correlation values were recorded in, e.g. wood anemone, common snowdrop, goat willow, common hazel and common alder. There was found a difference between the southern and northern part of the country, e.g. in silver birch and pedunculate oak. Out of the later-flowering (May–July) plant species, black elder and meadow foxtail also significantly correlated with the winter NAO index, lime tree correlated less markedly. The best results of a threshold for calculation of GDD to onset of beginning of flowering were found in lime tree—it was 5 °C at all three stations. Results of other taxa were more variable (e.g. 4–7 °C in goat willow; 6–10 °C in silver birch). Pearson correlation coefficients between NAO index and GDD were negative in lime tree at all thresholds (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 °C), while goat willow and silver birch were not so uniform (both positive and negative values). Correlation coefficients between phenophase onset and soil temperature (10 cm depth) had the highest values in silver birch, European larch and wood anemone. Stations situated at higher elevation showed negative correlation coefficient with soil temperature in common snowdrop, pedunculate oak, meadow foxtail and lime tree; other values were positive.

Description: Pollen and spores have been found as major biological sources of morbidity among individuals sensitive to respiratory disorders. The aim of the present study was to analyse the deposition rate of atmospheric pollen and fern spores at selected sites in Benue and Plateau states of the North-Central Nigeria between July 2015 and June 2016. This was accomplished by: (1) determining the pollen and fern spore content of each monitoring station; (2) establishing the relationship between total pollen count and meteorological parameters; and (3) comparing the recovered airborne pollen spectra with identified plants in the surrounding vegetation types of the sampling sites. The collection of atmospheric pollen was done using a modified Tauber sampler and plants in the surrounding environment of the sampling sites were enumerated. The residual solution was collected monthly and acetolysed, after which slide preparation and microscopy of the treated residue were done. Meteorological data were obtained from the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, Lagos. The results obtained reveal seasonal distribution patterns of various airborne pollen grains in the study locations. The most abundant pollen types recovered in Plateau State were produced by Syzygium guineense , Tridax procumbens , Alchornea sp., Terminalia sp., Poaceae and Amaranthaceae. Pollen types of Casuarina equisetifolia , Syzygium guineense , Tridax procumbens , Poaceae and Cyperaceae were preponderant in Benue State. Pteris sp., Nephrolepis sp. and a trilete fern spore were also represented in this study. The recovered airborne pollen spectra correspond favourably with some identified plants in the study locations. There was no significant correlation between monthly total pollen count and mean monthly values of meteorological parameters in Benue State. Air temperature and wind speed correlated significantly with monthly total pollen count in Plateau State. It is suggested that the allergenic effect of these abundant pollen types on humans should be further examined.