Fungal air spora at Ibadan, Nigeria

The fungal air spora at Ibadan, Nigeria, was investigated by using Casella Slit Samplers. Three sites, incorporating three locations at each site, were selected for the exposure of replicate plates during sampling. To provide data on a wide range of saprophytic and pathogenic fungal spores, isolations were made on Sabouraud dextrose agar and malt agar plates incubated at 26 and 37 C. Altogether over 60,000 fungal colonies were isolated and counted during the 12-month sampling period. The prevalent fungal genera recorded were: Cladosporium, Curvularia, Fusarium, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Pithomyces, Aureobasidium, Geotrichum, Phoma, Nigrospora, Epicoccum, and Neurospora. The wet and dry seasons (indicated by the temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall data) caused seasonal periodicity in colony numbers. The influence of culture media on the isolated colonies was not significant when the total number of isolated colonies were considered on a monthly basis, but in reviewing a few of the fungal genera there were marked differences between the two media, especially with Pithomyces. Attempts were made to identify some of the isolated colonies by species, e.g., Aspergillus carneus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, Curvularia geniculata, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium herquei, Pithomyces chartaum, Rhizopus arrhizus, and Syncephalastrum racemosum. Such identifications proved a basis for further studies on the role of these fungal species in the frontier problem of contamination and biodegradation of drugs and pharmaceuticals, allergies and other problems in the local environment.