Paper with antimicrobial properties was developed through in situ growth of ZnO nanorods. The targeted application for this type of paper is in health centers as wallpaper, writing paper, facemasks, tissue paper, etc. The paper was tested on three model microbes, Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and common airborne fungus Aspergillus niger. N...

The electrostatic surface potential of fungal spores is generally regarded as potentially influencing spore aggregation and pellet formation in submerged cultures of filamentous fungi. Spores of Aspergillus niger are typically characterized by negative zeta potentials over a wide range of pH values. In this study, this particular behavior is ascribed to the presence of an extensive melanin coat...

Freshly cut beech deadwood was enriched in the canopy and on the ground in three cultural landscapes in Germany (Swabian Alb, Hainich-Dün, Schorfheide-Chorin) in order to analyse the diversity, distribution and interaction of wood-inhabiting fungi and beetles. After two years of wood decay 83 MOTUs (Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units) from 28 wood samples were identified. Flight Interception...

Information on the diversity of fungal spores in air is limited, and also the content of airborne spores of fungal plant pathogens is understudied. In the present study, a total of 152 air samples were taken from rooftops at urban settings in Slagelse, DK, Wageningen NL, and Rothamsted, UK together with 41 samples from above oilseed rape fields in Rothamsted. Samples were taken during 10-day pe...

Particles are blown from leaves when the wind at the height of the particles exceeds a minimum which is about 5 m/sec for some fungal spores. In the moderate winds typical within a canopy of leaves, the minimum is attained at spore height during brief changes in wind or puffs before the boundary layer grows to particle height. The requisite change in speed to remove spores occurs over a sizeabl...

Two distinct reservoirs of mycotoxins exist in fungal-infected cereal grains--the fungal spores and the spore-free mycelium-substrate matrix. Many fungal spores are of respirable size and the mycelium-substrate matrix can be pulverized to form particles of respirable size during routine handling of grain. In order to determine the contribution of each source to the level of mycotoxin contaminat...

An improved viable counting technique was developed to facilitate study of the heat resistance of fungal spores. Spores were heated and subsequently incubated in the same medium. After germination, hyphae and germ tubes were stained with lactofuchsin, and the germinated spores were counted with the aid of a microscope. A number of xerophilic strains were examined, mostly isolates from spoiled h...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine types and levels of airborne fungal spores in air-conditioned homes built after 1980 without obvious moisture problems during the 2004 summer (rainy season) in central Florida, USA. METHODS Eighteen single-family homes were selected based on protocol questionnaire and cursory inspection, which revealed no obvious moisture or visible fungal grow...

The concentration of airborne Didymella spores has been investigated at two monitoring sites situated along the west-south transect in Poland (Szczecin, Kraków), i.e. from a height of 100 to 219 m, respectively, above sea level. The aerobiological monitoring of fungal spores was performed by means of two Lanzoni volumetric spore traps. The high Didymella spore numbers were observed at both citi...

This study was conducted by trapping airborne fungal spores inside and outside 15 residences in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, monthly from December 199 1 to September 1993. The dominant fungal propagules recorded indoors were Cludosporium (38.8%),Aspergillus/Penicillium (1 9.8%), Leptosphaeria (7.9%), unidentified basidiospores (6.5%), unidentified ascospores (2.8%), Ganoderma (2.6%), Al...