International Journal of Pharmaceutical Science Invention ISSN (Online): 2319 – 6718, ISSN (Print): 2319 – 670X www.ijpsi.org Volume 2 Issue 2 ‖ February 2013 ‖ PP.01-04
Airborne fungal diversity of residential dwellings in Imphal, Manipur, India A. Premila Department of Botany, Standard College, Imphal, Manipur, India
ABSTRACT: A irb o rn e fu n g a l sp o re s co n st it u te o n e o f th e imp o r ta n t co mp o n en t s o f mic ro b ia l p o p u la t io n o f a mb ien t a i r. Ae ro my co l o g ica l s tu d y wa s co n d u cted fo r t wo yea r s (Ja n u a r y, 2 0 0 9 to Dece mb e r, 2 0 1 0 ) u sin g Ro to r o d a ir sa mp l er in th e in d o o r a i r o f ce rta in re sid en t ia l d we ll in g s i n I mp h a l We st Di st r ic t, Ma n ip u r, In d ia . Du rin g th e p re sen t in ve st ig a t io n , 2 9 fu n g a l typ e s we re d ete ct ed o f wh ich A sp e rg i ll i – Pen ic il li sp o re s co n t rib u ted h ig h e st co n cen t ra t io n . Ma x imu m co n cen t ra t io n o f fu n g a l sp o re s wa s o b se rved in th e mo n th o f Ju l y in 2 0 0 9 a n d S ep t e mb e r i n 2 0 1 0 wh i le m in i mu m co n cen t ra tio n wa s o b se rv ed in th e mo n th o f Ma rch in b o th yea r s . All e rg en ica ll y s ig n i fi c a n t fu n g a l sp o re s re sp o n sib le fo r se rio u s h ea lth h a za rd s w er e d et ected th ro u g h o u t th e in v es tig a tio n p e r io d . S ea so n a l va r ia t io n o f a i rb o rn e fu n g a l sp o r es wa s co rr ela ted w it h me teo ro lo g ica l p a ra m ete r s.
Keywords : A ll er g y, i n d oor a er ob i ol o gy, me te o rol o g ica l para m ete rs, s easo na l va r iat io n. I.
INTRODUCTION
It i s a we l l k no wn f ac t t hat i nd o o r air i s no t fre e fro m mi cro o r ga n is ms . I nd o o r aero b io lo g y d ea l s wi t h th e p r o b l e ms o f airb o rne mat eri al s l i ke a clo se s ys te m li k e b ui ld i n g , ho sp it al, g la s s ho u se, et c. S i nc e ma n y p eo p le sp e nd mo s t o f t he ir t i me i nd o o r s, th ere i s co n ti n uo u s co n tac t b et wee n a irb o r ne mi cro o r ga n i s ms a nd t he h u ma n o c c up yi n g th e i nd o o r e n vir o n me n t. F ur t her , h u ma n e xp o s u re to a irb o r ne micro o r g an i s ms ma y re s ul t in a vari et y o f i n fec tio u s d is ea se s, al ler g ic a n d irri ta n t r esp o n se s, re s p irato r y p ro b l e ms and h yp er se n s it i vi t y r ea ctio n s [ 1 ,2 ] . M a n y wo r k er s rep o r ted t h at i nd o o r air wi t h n at ur al ve n ti la tio n to t h e a mb i en t at mo sp he re co nt ai n sea so na ll y o cc ur ri n g p o lle n gra i n s and fu n ga l sp o r e s[ 3 ,4 ] . Sp o r e co nc e ntr at io n i n t h e air i ncr ea se s wi t h h u m an ac ti v it y wi t h i n th e b u ild i n g s s uc h a s s we ep i n g , b ed ma ki n g and b ui ld i n g rep air i n g wo r ks[5 ]. F u n ga l air sp o ra o f r es id e n tia l d wel li n g wa s rep o r ted b y ma n y wo r ke rs [6 - 1 1 ]. In h al atio n o f airb o r ne fu n ga l sp o r es ca us e s r esp ir a to r y d i so r d ers, a ll er gic d is ea se s s uc h a s a st h ma a nd sea so n al al ler ge n ic r hi ni ti e s[ 1 , 6 ] . I n M a nip ur , S i n g h a nd hi s co - wo rke rs are ac ti v el y en g a ged i n t h e f ield o f aer o b io lo g y u si n g var i o u s te c h niq ue s wi t h re fere nce to a ir sp o ra in s id e b a k er y, ho ste l k itc h e n, sa w mi l l, r ice mi l l, l ib rar y, r ic e grai n s s to re c u m sal e s ho p s, co ws h ed , e tc. b e sid es a ir sp o ra o f fie ld cro p s [1 2 -1 4 ]. So far , no wo r k ha s b ee n d o ne o n t he f u n g al air s p o r a o f r e sid e nt ial d we l li n g s o f I mp h al. I n t he li g ht o f t h e ab o ve fa ct s, t h e p r e se n t i n ve st i ga tio n wa s u nd ert a k en to d et ect t he c o mp o ne n t s o f fu n g al air sp o ra, t he ir sea so na l var ia tio n s a nd p o s s ib le so urc es fro m t h e i nd o o r air o f re sid e n ti al d wel li n g s i n I mp ha l W e st Di s tr i ct, Ma n ip ur, I nd ia.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS Mo n ito r i n g o f i nd o o r f u n ga l a ir sp o ra wa s c arri ed o ut i n t hr ee d we ll i n g ho u se s at I mp h al fo r t wo co n sec ut i ve year s (J a n uar y, 2 0 0 9 to Dec e mb er , 2 0 1 0 ) b y e mp lo yi n g T ila k ’s ro to r o d air sa m p ler . Transparent cellotape was applied to the rods of the sampler, trimmed back to the width of the rods and coated with vaseline. T he s a mp l er wa s o p era ted at we e k l y i nt er va ls t wi ce a d a y ( 9 .3 0 to 1 0 a. m. a n d 4 .3 0 to 5 p . m. ) by keeping at a height of 1 metre above ground level. Slides were prepared using glycerine jelly mountant and scanned regularly. The spore count was multiplied by the conversion factor, 5. T he sp o re s so trap p ed we re id e n ti f ied b as ed o n mo r p ho lo gi ca l c har ac ter s, vi s u al id e nt i fica ti o n b y co mp ar iso n wi t h re fere nc e sl id e s, p ub l i s hed li ter at ure s a nd c ul t ure p la te id e n ti fi cat io ns [ 2 ,1 5 ,1 6 ] . www.ijpsi.org
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Airborne fungal diversity of residential dwellings in ... During the investigation perio d, meteorological parameters were obtained from ICAR Research Centre, Imphal.
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Airborne spores detected were presented under two categories – fungal spores and other types. Altogether 29 fungal types were identified and grouped as fungal spores while epidermal hairs, insect scales, mycelial fragments, unidentified types, etc. were grouped as other types. Fungal spores contributed 99.54% and other types contributed 0.46% of t he total airspora. T he p r e se nt r e s ul t r e v eal ed wi d e r a n g e co vera g e o f ta xo no mi c co mp o si tio n o f fu n ga l sp o r es . The abundance and frequency of different spores were presented in Table I. The dominant fungal typ es scoring 100% abundance during the present study were Alternaria, Aspergilli-Penicilli, basidiospores, Botryodiplodia, Chaetomium, Cladosporium, Curvularia, Drechslera, Fusarium, fusiform ascospores, Helminthosporium, Nigrospora, Periconi a, Pithomyces, round spores ( Rhizopus-Mucor type), Sclerotium, Trichoderma and other types. Si mi l ar r es u lt s wer e r ep o r ted b y p r e vio u s wo rke rs [ 9 ,1 0 ] . Amo n g th e fu n g al t yp e s, Asp er gi ll i -P e ni ci ll i co n tr ib u ted hi g h es t co nc e n trat io n (2 8 .7 3 %) wh i c h was fo llo wed b y fu si fo r m a sco sp o r e s ( 1 4 .1 3 %) , r o u nd sp o r e s ( Rh izo p u s- Mu co r t yp e)(1 2 .4 1 %), Ch a e to m iu m (1 1 .7 4 %), N ig ro sp o ra ( 6 .8 5 %) , C la d o sp o r iu m ( 5 .3 7 %), Cu rvu la ria (4 .8 5 %), b as id io sp o r es (4 .7 9 %), Bo t ryo d ip l o d ia ( 4 .6 3 %) , e tc. T he fi nd in g wa s i n a gre e me n t wi t h o t h er r ep o rt s [ 5 ,6 ] .
D uri n g 2 0 0 9 , t he h i g he s t ( 2 .5 9 %) sp o re c at c h was o b ser v ed o n t h e 3 0 t h J ul y wh i c h co rre sp o nd s to te mp er a t ur e ( ma x. 2 8 .5 0 C a nd m in . 2 2 .4 0 C ), re la ti v e h u mi d i t y (8 8 %) a nd rai n fa ll (3 .2 m m) a nd th e lo we s t ( 0 .3 3 %) sp o r e catc h wa s o b ser v ed o n t he 1 2 t h Marc h wh ic h co rr e s p o nd s to te mp er a t ur e ( ma x .2 6 . 6 0 C a nd mi n .1 6 .5 0 C), relat i ve h u mi d i t y (4 1 .5 %) a nd r ai n f al l ( n il ) wh er e a s d ur i n g 2 0 1 0 , th e h i g he st (1 .8 1 % ) sp o re ca tc h wa s o b ser v ed o n t he 1 7 t h J u ne wh ic h co rre sp o nd s to te mp erat u re ( ma x . 2 7 . 3 0 C a nd mi n . 2 2 .8 0 C), re la ti v e h u mid i t y ( 8 0 .1 %) a nd ra i n fal l (n il ) a nd t h e lo we s t (0 . 4 5 %) sp o re ca tc h wa s o b ser ved o n t he 2 5 t h Mar c h wh i c h co rre sp o nd s to t e mp er at ur e ( ma x . 3 0 . 6 0 C a nd mi n . 1 9 .3 0 C), re la ti v e h u mid it y ( 6 5 %) a nd ra i n fa ll (n il) . T he p r es e nt fi nd i n g cle arl y s ho wed th at t he co nce n tr a tio n o f f u n g al sp o re s h a ve se aso na l var ia tio n s. Fro m t he p e r us al o f t h e ab o v e a n al ys i s, i t wa s c lear t ha t t here wa s a wi d e ra n ge o f var ia tio n s i n r ela ti v e h u mi d i t y in b e t we e n t he d i st r ib u t io n o f hi g he s t a nd lo we st co nc e ntr at io n o f ai rsp o ra . T h u s, s ho wed th at t her e wa s a c lo s e c o r r ela tio n b et wee n met e o ro lo gic al fact o rs a nd t he co nce n tra tio n o f air sp o ra. T he p r es e nt r es u lt al so e mp h a siz ed t he a sso cia te e ffe ct o f m e teo ro lo gi ca l a nd o th er art i fi cia l f acto r s l ik e a v ai lab il it y o f s ub s trat es , d i s t urb a nc e o f s ub str at e s d ue to s we ep i n g , cle a ni n g, r e p air i n g wo r ks , etc. a n d in fil tra tio n o f air sp o ra fro m o utd o o r en v iro n me n t s . T h e fi nd i n g wa s i n a gre e me n t wi t h t hat o f o t h er wo r ker s [ 3 ,6 ,1 0 ] . www.ijpsi.or g
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Airborne fungal diversity of residential dwellings in ...
Fig . 1 re vea led t he co nc e ntr at io n o f sp o re s i n d i ffer e nt mo nt h s a s reco rd ed i n e ac h exp o s ur e. D ur i n g 2 0 0 9 , th e hi g he s t (7 .8 6 %) s p o re cat c h wa s o b ser v ed i n J u l y wh i c h co rre sp o nd s to te mp er a t ur e ( ma x. 2 9 . 7 5 0 C a nd mi n . 2 2 . 5 9 0 C), r el ati v e h u mi d i t y (8 6 .5 2 %) and ra i n fa ll ( 5 .8 4 m m) wh er e as t he lo we st (1 .9 3 %) sp o r e ca tc h wa s o b ser v ed i n Mar c h wh ic h co rre sp o nd s to t e mp er a t ur e ( ma x. 2 6 .6 3 0 C a nd mi n . 1 3 .0 6 0 C), rela ti v e h u mid it y (5 3 .7 %) a nd r ai n f al l ( 1 .6 4 m m) . D ur i n g 2 0 1 0 , t he hi g h es t (6 .3 3 %) sp o r e c at c h wa s o b ser v ed i n Sep te mb e r wh ic h co r r e sp o nd s to te mp e rat ur e ( ma x . 2 8 . 6 0 C and mi n. 2 1 . 6 0 C), rela ti v e h u mid it y ( 9 5 .5 %) a nd r a i n fa ll (8 .7 m m ) wh ere as t he lo we s t (2 .1 7 %) sp o re c at c h wa s o b ser v ed i n M ar c h wh ic h co r r e sp o nd s to te mp e rat ur e ( ma x. 2 8 .7 0 C and mi n. 1 2 .7 0 C), rela ti v e h u mid it y ( 5 5 .8 %) a nd r a i n fal l (4 .1 m m). H i g h co n ce ntr at io n o f airb o r ne fu n ga l sp o re s mi g h t b e d u e t o the e x i ste n ce o f fa v o urab le we a t her co nd i t io n s s uc h a s h i g h rela ti v e h u mid it y ( >8 5 %) a nd mo d er ate te mp e rat ur e (2 8 0 C ). D ur i n g t h e wh o le in v e st i gat io n p er io d , M ar c h r ece i ved lo we st re lat i ve h u mid it y wh i c h t end s to l i mi t t he vi ab i li t y o f mo s t o f t h e f u n gi . F ur t her, i t wa s e vid e nt t hat fa vo urab le me teo ro lo gic al fa cto r s i n f l ue n ce t h e lu x ur ia n t gro wt h o f fu n gi a nd co ns eq ue nt l y i n crea se t he co n ce nt ra t io n i n t he i nd o o r air o f r e sid e nti al h o u se . T he fi nd i n g wa s s u p p o rted b y o t her wo r ker s [ 9 ,1 1 ] D uri n g t he p r es e nt i n ve s ti ga tio n, i t wa s o b s er ve d t hat a lar ge n u mb er o f fu n g i, v iz. Asp e rg il lu s , Pen ici ll iu m , Mu co r, Rh i zo p u s, Tr ich o d er ma , Cla d o sp o riu m, Ep ico c cu m, Fu sa riu m , Cu rvu la r ia , Ch a e to m iu m , et c. we re p res e nt wh ic h wer e k no wn to b e a sso ci ated wi t h re sp ir a to r y a nd all ied al ler g y [2 ] . S i g ni fic a nt mo uld a ller g en fro m s i mi lar en v iro n me n t wa s r ep o r t ed b y o t h er wo r ker s [ 4 ,6 ,7 ]. T he ro l e o f d i ffer e n t so urce s a nd t heir co n trib u tio n to t h e t o t al air sp o r a i n s id e t he ho u se wi t h re fe re nc e t o d us t, v e ge tab l e re mai n s, p atc h es at tac h ed o n s ur fa ce, co r ner, wa l l, e tc. ha v e re flec te d a lar ge n u mb er o f fu n ga l t yp es , v iz. A sp e rg i llu s, P en ic il liu m , Fu sa riu m, Cu r vu la r ia , Ch a eto miu m, S cle ro t iu m , Tr ich o d e r m a , et c. T h e p re se n t fi n d in g wa s i n a gree me nt wi t h t h e p re v io u s rep o rt s [ 6 ,7 ] . I t wa s e v i d en t fr o m t h e p re se n t fi nd i n g t ha t t he e xi st e nce o f a irb o r ne fu n g al b io p ll u ta n t s, q u al it at i ve l y a nd q u a nt ita ti v el y a s wel l as fl uct u at io n s i n th eir o c c urre nc e we re d e fi ni tel y co n tr o l l ed b y me t eo ro lo g ica l facto r s b e sid e s t he p re s en ce o f ab u nd a nt s ub stra te s i n t h e i nd o o r en v ir o n me n t. T he p re s e nt fi nd i n g wa s i n co n gr ui t y wi t h re s u lt s rep o rted ear li er fr o m d i f fer e nt p ar t s o f t he co u nt r y [ 9 ,1 1 ]
IV. CONCLUSION F u n ga l sp o r e s fo r me d a lar ge, o ft e n d o mi n a nt p a rt o f t he air sp o ra i n sid e res id e nt ia l d wel li n g s i n I mp ha l. K no wn f u n g al a ll er ge n s we re fr eq ue n tl y d e t ected d uri n g t he in v e st i gat io n p er io d . T he p r es e nt st ud y r e vea l ed t ha t t her e e xi s ts se a so na l vari at io n o f airb o r ne sp o r es wh i c h co r r el ate s wi t h me teo r o lo gic al facto rs i n ad d itio n to a v ai lab le s ub str a te s a nd a mb ia n t air mo ve me n t. Lo n g ter m st ud ie s o n t he sp o re l o ad s p re se n t i n t h e www.ijpsi.or g
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Airborne fungal diversity of residential dwellings in ... ind o o r air mi g h t b e he l p f u l i n ap p r e h e ns io n o f an o utb r ea k o f al ler g ic d ise as es . F ur t her, it i s s u g ge sted t h at we ll o r g a ni sed a nd wid e s p read a ir mo n ito r i n g o f b i o p o l l ut a nt s i n d i ffere n t i nd o o r e n v ir o n me n t s b e mad e i n t he s tat e o f M a nip ur i n ge n e ral a nd I mp ha l in p arti c ul ar.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author is grateful to the Principal, Standard College for laboratory facilities and to Meteorological Section, ICAR Research Com plex, Imphal for meteorological data.
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