SPELEOMYCOLOGY OF AIR IN DEM?NOVSKá CAVE OF LIBERTY(SLOVAKIA) AND NEW AIRBORNE SPECIES FOR FUNGAL SITES

摘要

The study is the first report of the fungal air quality in the Dem?novská Cave of Liberty, Slovakia, which is one of themost visited caves in Slovakia (Low Tatras). A total of 108 air samples were collected in June 2014 using the microbiological air sampler “Air Ideal 3P” and Potato Dextrose Agar medium. Fungi were identified based on phenotypic testsand ITS regions analysis. Air samples collected from underground sites contained fewer propagules of fungi (from 86.7to 126.7 colony-forming units per m3 of air) than outdoor air samples (391.7). Altogether, the incidence of 18 differentfungal species were found in the air of the cave, and most of them were isolated from the indoor samples. Cladosporiummacrocarpum spores dominated in this study. The fungal species such as Bjerkandera adusta, Exophiala xenobiotica,Fusarium lateritium, Penicillium aurantiacobrunneum, and Trichoderma citrinoviride were detected for the first time inthe internal air of underground sites. Overall, fungal air quality of the Dem?novská Cave does not pose a biologicalthreat to people and animals with undamaged immune systems according to most standards of fungal sir contamination. However, some of the airborne fungi detected in the cave can pose a risk to persons and animals with weakenedimmune systems or people who have fungal allergies.