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Aspergillus and Penicillium spores as urban pathogens of the Havana atmosphere, Cuba

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Abstract

Aspergillus and Penicillium spores occur with considerable frequency in the outdoor air, and their presence is important due to implications in health, agriculture and biodeterioration of cultural heritage. The objective of this research was to study their abundance in the atmosphere of Havana from 2013 to 2017. Two study methods were used, viable method monitoring of the spores with Chirana Aeroscope equipment and the other a non-viable method Lanzoni VPPS 2000. The Aspergillus/Penicillium spores were found to occur with high frequency, their atmospheric concentration varied statistically between climatic seasons, the highest incidence was detected during 2013 and 2015. Aspergillus was more abundant (69%) than Penicillium (31%), with a predominance of the Flavi and Nigri sections, and for Penicillium predominated Penicillium and Furcatum. The viable method, 23 species of Aspergillus and 22 of Penicillium were identified, of which A. flavus, A. niger, P. aurantiogriseum and P. citrinum predominated. A greater degree of similarity was observed in the composition of Aspergillus species, with higher indices (Di,j 0.40-0.73) compared to Penicillium (Di,j 0.30-0.55). The principal component analysis (PCA) showed a high degree of positive association between Aspergillus/Penicillium and relative humidity (non-viable method) and between Aspergillus and Penicillium and maximum and average temperatures (viable method).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Osvaldo Cuesta PhD, Javier Bolufé MSc. and Pedro Roura MSc. from the Institute of Meteorology of Cuba (INSMET) for allowing access to meteorological data, as part of National Project P211LH007-017 "Aeromycological characterization of the atmosphere of Havana: its impact on health and agriculture."

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Virology, Biology Faculty, University of La Habana, Havana, Cuba

    M. Almaguer, L. Díaz & K. C. Sánchez

  2. Department of Plant Biology and Soil Sciences. Sciences Faculty of Ourense, University of Vigo, 32004, Ourense, Spain

    M. Fernández-González & F. J. Rodríguez-Rajo

  3. Department of Botany, Pharmacy Faculty, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    M. J. Aira

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  1. M. Almaguer
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Almaguer, M., Fernández-González, M., Díaz, L. et al. Aspergillus and Penicillium spores as urban pathogens of the Havana atmosphere, Cuba. Aerobiologia 37, 767–783 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10453-021-09721-8

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