In the present study, certain building-associated basidiomycetes including Serpula lacrymans (the causative agent of timber dry rot), Antrodia sitchensis, Trametes versicolor and Gloeophyllum sepiarium [45, 46], were found, mostly from the water-damaged, wood-framed Index-1 building. These species may have had an intramural source also in the present study. However, this connection could not be verified by examination of the building materials. Several opportunistically pathogenic taxa [47] were also identified, including Candida zeylanoides, Cryptococcus

see more albidus, Exophiala xenobiotica, Mucor spp. and Trichosporon mucoides. In addition to a wide diversity of fungi, we also found DNA signatures of an impressively diverse array of plants including cultivated crops (fruits, vegetable crops and tobacco), deciduous trees,

grasses, mosses and weeds. The amplification of plant DNA was likely due to a lack of specificity in our forward PCR primer [23]. Despite the fact that the inclusion of plant targets was not our intent, their recovery further confirms the biological complexity of dust, and indicates that DNA-based methods may be useful for the detection of dust-borne plant particles. Like fungal particles, those originating from I-BET151 price plants may also have allergenic potential, and obviously persist in indoor dust, long past the respective pollen season. The representativeness of different dust sample types has been discussed in the context of airborne exposure analysis; for example, Cediranib (AZD2171) the presence of heavy, non-resuspending particulate material in floor dusts, as well as potential microbial proliferation in dusts collected from locations with elevated relative humidity have been suspected to bias dustborne measurements [48–50]. A comparison of our above-floor surface samples with floor dust samples collected earlier during the cold season from the same

geographic region [23] indicated differences in fungal community composition. Especially, lower frequencies of basidiomycetous yeasts (mainly www.selleckchem.com/products/azd3965.html Malassezia and Cryptococcus) and rusts were found in dusts collected from elevated surfaces. This difference was also reflected in the differential ratios of Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes (NAsc:NBas) between the two sample types; the average NAsc:NBas ratio was 3.03 for the elevated surface dust, but lower (0.95) for floor dust. The differences may relate to the aerodynamic properties of different fungal particles; while the spores of the mentioned genera are not distinguishingly large, they are commonly carried along with larger particles (i.e. Malassezia cells on human skin scales and Cryptococcus cells on plant debris), which makes them more prone to deposit on floor surfaces. In contrast, many ascomycetous particles are small, air-dispersed microconidia that stay airborne for long periods, resuspend efficiently and deposit on elevated surfaces.