Seasonal variation of Aspergillus species in the different localities of Nawapara (Rajim), District – Raipur, Chhattisgarh

Raju Mahobia; Shailesh Kumar Jadhav; Rekha Pimpalgaonkar

doi:10.52228/NBW-JAAB.2019-1-2-2

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Seasonal variation of Aspergillus species in the different localities of Nawapara (Rajim), District – Raipur, Chhattisgarh

Author(s): Raju Mahobia¹, Shailesh Kumar Jadhav², Rekha Pimpalgaonkar³

Email(s): ¹rajumahobia@gmail.com

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Published In: Volume - 1, Issue - 2, Year - 2019

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Raju Mahobia, Shailesh Kumar Jadhav and Rekha Pimpalgaonkar (2019) Seasonal variation of Aspergillus species in the different localities of Nawapara (Rajim), District – Raipur, Chhattisgarh. NewBioWorld A Journal of Alumni Association of Biotechnology,1(2):9-12.

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NewBioWorld A Journal of Alumni Association of Biotechnology (2019) 1(2):9-12

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Seasonal variation of Aspergillus species in the different localities of Nawapara (Rajim), District – Raipur, Chhattisgarh

Raju Mahobia¹*, Shailesh Kumar Jadhav² and Rekha Pimpalgaonkar³

¹*Department of Botany, Govt. D.K.P.G. College, Baloda Bazar (C.G.) 493 332, India.

² S.o.S. in Biotechnology, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur (C.G.) 492 010, India.

³Department of Botany, Govt. Nagarjun P.G. Science College, Raipur (C.G.) 492 010, India.

^*Email- rajumahobia@gmail.com

ARTICLE INFORMATION

ABSTRACT

Article history:

Received

31 August 2018

Received in revised form

16 December 2018

Accepted

8 January 2019

Fungal bioaerosols present in the environment varies from season to season, month to month, day to day and place to place. They are widely distributed in the environment and pose no problem when their quantity and types are kept within reasonable limits. Environmental conditions play an important role for distribution of bioaerosols. During the present investigation gravity petriplates method was used for the survey of bioaerosols. The survey was conducted for one year from July 2008 to June 2009. The samples of bioaerosols were collected twice a month at fortnightly intervals. In the present studies biodiversity of Aspergillus species in the environment of Nawapara (Rajim), District-Raipur, Chhattisgarh was observed. Total 18 Aspergillus species and 696 colonies were recorded. The percentage frequency and contribution of different Aspergillus species were different in different seasons. Aspergillus flavus and A. niger were most frequent throughout the year followed by A. versicolar, A. fumigatus, A. luchuensis, A. sydowii, A. carneus, A. terreus, A. japonicus, A. ochraceous, A.oryzae, A. tamarii, A. chevalieri var. intermedius, A. parasiticus, A. awamori, A. niveus, A. speluneus while A. nidulans was the least frequent species. It was also observed that the maximum percentage contribution of A. niger (33.76%) followed by A. flavus (27.29%), A. versicolor (10.63%), A. fumigatus (3.44%), A. luchuensis (3.16%), A. sydowii (3.16%), A. terreus (2.44%), A. ochraceous (2.01%), A. japonicus (1.86%), A. tamarii (1.86%), A. carneus (1.72%), A. chevalieri var. intermedius (1.72%), A. oryzae (1.58%), A. awamori (1.29%), A. niveus (1.29%), A. parasiticus (1.00%) while A. nidulans and A. speluneus (0.86%) were least contribution to the fungal bioaerosols.

Keywords:

Aerobiology

Aspergillus

Bioaerosols

Nawapara (Rajim)

Introduction

Aerosols of biological origin such as bacteria, fungus, virus, algae and plant, fibers/ products by them like fungal spores, pollen as well as high molecular weight allergens, endotoxins or mycotoxins are bioaerosols. Bacteria, virus, algae or fungus are not able to propagate long distance in the environment unless they use vehicles/carriers like particles, wind, water, humans or animals. Bioaerosols are present everywhere in the environment and pose no problems in most cases when their quantity and the various types are kept within reasonable limits however some bioaerosols, when inhaled, can cause diseases including pneumonia, asthma, rhinitis (cold hay fever) and respiratory infection. Bioaerosols may also cause allergic reaction on the skin. However, in agriculture many of the crops are affected by the airborne pathogenic bioaerosols. The study of air borne microorganisms, their identity, behaviour, movement, survival, dispersion, deposition and impact on human beings, animals and plants is referred to the branch of science called aerobiology. Fungi are heterogeneous group of organisms belonging to the group of eukaryotes. They are ubiquitous in indoor and outdoor environments. Fungi are the major part of microbial diversity. Aspergillus is a universal fungus. The great majority of species are saprophytes, commonly found in soil, decaying vegetation, seeds and grains. The aim of the present work was to analyze the behaviour of Aspergillus spore in the environment of Nawapara (Rajim) and to study the relationship between the fungal spores and the metrological factors.

Materials and method

Bioaerosols are ubiquitously present in the environment. The present study “Seasonal variation of Aspergillus species in the different localities of Nawapara (Rajim), District- Raipur, Chhattisgarh” was conducted by using gravity petriplates method (containing PDA medium) during July 2008 to June 2009.

For the survey of fungal bioaerosols sterilized petriplates containing PDA media were exposed for 5-10 minutes at each sampling place of Nawapara (Rajim) Raipur, which were Bus stand, Sadar Road (River belt) and Ganj road area. Then the petriplates were brought into the laboratory and incubated at 26±1°C for 4-6 days. After incubation period, fungal colonies were counted and identified with the help of available literature Raper and Fennell (1965); Barnett and, Hunter (1972); Elis (1973); Tiwari et al. (2011).

Table 1: Biodiversity of Aspergillus species in the environment of Nawapara (Rajim)

S. N.	Name of fungus	Rainy season				Total	Winter season				Total	Summer season				Total	Total no. of fungal colonies	Percentage frequency	Percentage contribution
S. N.	Name of fungus	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct		Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb		Mar	Apr	May	Jun
1.	Aspergillus awamori	-	03	02	-	05	-	04	-	-	04	-	-	-	-	-	09	25.00	1.29
2.	A. carneus	04	-	02	-	06	01	02	02	01	06	-	-	-	-	-	12	50.00	1.72
3.	A. chevalieri var. intermedius	04	-	-	-	04	02	05	-	01	08	-	-	-	-	-	12	33.33	1.72
4.	A. flavus	08	16	19	07	50	17	23	27	28	95	13	14	12	06	45	190	100.00	27.29
5.	A. fumigatus	-	03	-	04	07	04	02	02	02	10	-	03	-	04	07	24	66.66	3.44
6.	A. japonicus	-	-	-	-	-	02	04	-	02	08	-	04	-	01	05	13	41.66	1.86
7.	A. luchuensis	02	-	04	-	06	03	04	-	02	09	03	02	-	02	07	22	66.66	3.16
8.	A. nidulans	-	-	-	-	-	-	04	-	02	06	-	-	-	-	-	06	16.66	0.86
9.	A. niger	14	09	25	21	69	19	24	27	23	93	24	15	12	22	73	235	100.00	33.76
10.	A. niveus	-	-	-	-	-	03	02	-	04	09	-	-	-	-	-	09	25.00	1.29
11.	A. ochraceous	-	-	04	-	04	-	03	-	-	03	03	-	02	02	07	14	41.66	2.01
12.	A. oryzae	02	03	-	-	05	03	01	02	-	06	-	-	-	-	-	11	41.66	1.58
13.	A. parasiticus	-	-	-	-	-	03	01	01	-	05	-	02	-	-	02	07	33.33	1.00
14.	A. speluneus	-	-	-	-	-	01	01	-	04	06	-	-	-	-	-	06	25.00	0.86
15.	A. sydowii	02	-	05	-	07	02	02	06	03	13	-	01	01	-	02	22	66.66	3.16
16.	A. tamarii	02	-	04	-	06	-	03	02	02	07	-	-	-	-	-	13	41.66	1.86
17.	A. terreus	03	-	03	-	06	04	03	02	02	11	-	-	-	-	-	17	50.00	2.44
18.	A. versicolor	09	14	22	12	57	04	03	06	01	14	03	-	-	-	03	74	75.00	10.63
*Total no. of Aspergillus* species**		10	06	10	04	12	08	18	10	14	18	08	07	04	06	09	--	--	--
Total no. of fungal colonies		50	48	90	44	232	68	91	77	77	313	46	41	27	37	151	696	--	--

Results and Discussion

During present studies biodiversity of Aspergillus species in the environment of Nawapara (Rajim), District Raipur, Chhattisgarh was observed. Total 18 species and 696 colonies of Aspergillus were recorded (Table.1.). The percentage frequency and contribution of different Aspergillus species was different in different season. During the studies Aspergillus flavuns and A. niger were most frequent throughout the year followed by Aspergillus versicolor, A. fumigatus, A. luchuensis, A. sydowii, A. carneus, A. japanicus, A. ochraceous, A. oryzae, A. tamarii, A. terreus, A. chevalieri var. intermedius and A. parasiticus while A. niveus, A. speluneus and A. nidulans were least frequent species. The result is also indicating that the maximum percentage contribution of Aspergillus niger (33.76%) followed by A. flavus (27.29%), A. versicolor (10.63%), A. fumigatus (3.44%), A. luchuensis and A. sydowii (3.16%), A. terreus (2.44%) while A. nidulans and A. speluneus (0.86%) were the least contribution of the total species (Table.2).

Table 2: Percentage frequency and percentage contribution of Aspergillus species.

S.N.	Fungal species	Total no. of Fungal colonies	Percentage frequency	Percentage contribution
1.	Aspergillus awamori	09	25.00	1.29
2.	A. carneus	12	50.00	1.72
3.	A. chevalieri var. intermedius	12	33.33	1.72
4.	A. flavus	190	100.00	27.29
5.	A. fumigatus	24	66.66	3.44
6.	A. japonicus	13	41.66	1.86
7.	A. luchuensis	22	66.66	3.16
8.	A. nidulans	06	16.66	0.86
9.	A. niger	235	100.00	33.76
10.	A. niveus	09	25.00	1.29
11.	A. ochraceous	14	41.66	2.01
12.	A. oryzae	11	41.66	1.58
13.	A. parasiticus	07	33.33	1.00
14.	A. speluneus	06	25.00	0.86
15.	A. sydowii	22	66.66	3.16
16.	A. tamarii	13	41.66	1.86
17.	A. terreus	17	50.00	2.44
18.	A. versicolar	74	75.00	10.63
Total no. of fungal colonies		696	--	--

The result obtained in the present study is in agreement with several scientists. Verma and Khare (1988) reported that the Aspergillus species was most dominated throughout the study period. Jadhav and Tiwari (1994) reported Aspergillus species was found to be most predominant in the atmosphere of Ravan village. Arora and Jain (2003) reported Aspergillus was most frequent fungus from Bikaner. Tiwari et al. (2006) has also reported Aspergillus, was most frequent in their study. Singh (2006) reported that the A. niger and as the most frequent fungus.

Pandey and Chouhan (2017) also reported A. niger was most frequent fungus. Similar result has also been reported by Abdel-Hameed et al. (2007); Kunjam (2007); Pyrri and Kapsanaki-Gotsi (2007); Lall (2008); Tiwari and Saluja, (2009).

Figure 1: Season wise number of fungal colonies of Aspergillus species.

During the investigation maximum 18 Aspergillus species (313 fungal colonies) were observed in the winter season due to favourable temperature and relative humidity (30.9^˚C and 85.5%). Moderate 12 Aspergillus species (232 fungal colonies) were observed in rainy season due to the washing of the fungal species by the rains clearing the atmosphere.

Minimum 09 Aspergillus species (151 fungal colonies) were observed during summer season due to unfavourable temperature (40.3˚C) and relative humidity (50.2%). Very high temperature and low humidity during summer season was unfavourable for the fungal growth (Fig.1, 2 &3).

Figure 2: Season wise number of Aspergillus species.

Aspergillus flavus and A. niger were present throughout the month. The results are in agreement with several scientists. Das and Gupta-Bhattacharya (2007) reported that the maximum fungal species are present during winter, while minimum in summer season in agriculture farm in Madhyamgram, Kolkata (West Bengal).

Figure 3: Monthly variation of Aspergillus sp. and colonies in relationship with the temperature and relative humidity of bioaerosols.

Abdel-Hameed et al. (2007) reported Aspergillus (19.2%) maximum contributed and predominant fungal genera in the atmosphere of Giza, Egypt. This indicates that environmental factors play an important role in distribution of the bioaerosols.

Conclusion

In the present investigation it was observed that the environment of Nawapara (Rajim) District-Raipur was frequently contaminated with Aspergillus flavus and A. niger throughout the month. Our study suggested that the regular monitoring of fungal bioaerosols can be helpful to prevent fungal allergic diseases into human beings as well as disease related to important crops.

Conflict of interest

Authors had no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement

We acknowledge school of studies in Biotechnology, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University Raipur (C.G.) and Department of Botany Govt. Nagarjun P. G. Science College Raipur (C.G.) for their valuable support throughout the work.

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