Fungal spores are known to trigger allergic respiratory diseases. Very little is known about airborne fungal spore presence in Trieste. This paper reports the seasonal (June-October) Alternaria (1993-2004) and Epicoccum (1994-2004) spore concentrations during these years, using a Hirst sampler. Daily spore counts fluctuate considerably from one day to the next. Airborne spores of Alternaria and...

Berberine, an alkaloid originally extracted from the plant Coptis chinensis and other herb plants, has been used as a pharmacological substance for many years. The therapeutic effect of berberine has been attributed to its interaction with nucleic acids and blocking cell division. However, levels of berberine entering individual microbial cells minimal for growth inhibition and its effects on b...

Spores are an essential cell type required for long-term survival across diverse organisms in the tree of life and are a hallmark of fungal reproduction, persistence, and dispersal. Among human fungal pathogens, spores are presumed infectious particles, but relatively little is known about this robust cell type. Here we used the meningitis-causing fungus Cryptococcus neoformans to determine the...

Botrytis cinerea and Puccinia recondita spores adhere strongly to polystyrene microtiter plates coincident with germination. We developed assays for inhibition of spore adhesion in 96-well microtiter plates by using sulforhodamine B staining to quantify the adherent spores. In both organisms, fungicides that inhibited germination strongly inhibited spore adhesion, with 50% effective concentrati...

A calendar of fungal spore seasons for Szczecin during 2013 was established using a 7-day volumetric Lanzoni trap. Thirty-five spore taxa were identified. The dominant spore types detected were Cladosporium (66%), Didymella (29%), Alternaria (1.67%), and Leptosphaeria type (1.21%). The spores were present throughout the study year. However, there was a wide daily fluctuation in the concentratio...

The PsB glycoprotein in Dictyostelium discoideum is one of a diverse group of developmentally regulated, prespore-cell-specific proteins, that contain a common O-linked oligosaccharide. This post-translational modification is dependent on the wild-type modB allele. The PsB protein exists as part of a multiprotein complex of six different proteins, which have different post-translational modific...

Different spore types are abundant in the atmosphere depending on the weather conditions. Ascospores generally follow precipitation, while spore types such as Alternaria and Cladosporium are abundant in dry conditions. This project attempted to correlate fungal spore concentrations with meteorological data from Tulsa, Oklahoma during May 1998 and May 1999. Air samples were collected and analyze...