Bioaerosol vertical fungal spores profile in Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Abstract

Primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) are involved in multiple phenomena ranging from seasonal allergies to pandemic diseases. Furthermore, PBAPs that act as ice nuclei, might interact with cloud physics affecting the formation of hail and, potentially, causing damage to agriculture. These latter dynamics are still unclear, especially due to the lack of knowledge about PBAPs concentration and emission rates. Here we characterized the fungal aerobiology of Arceburgo, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, through ground level and airborne sampling of PBAPs via a hot-air balloon. Total and cultivable fungal spores were collected using personal portable Burkard and a MAS100 sampler respectively during the summer and winter of 2019. In the latter season, daily dynamics were resolved by repeating flights and sampling in the morning and in the afternoon. Both samplers identified a core fungal community (Penicillum/Aspergillus and Cladosporium spp.) that are coupled with local meteorological dynamics and are able to undergo atmospheric transport as indicated by their survival in the night-time residual boundary layer. These results are invaluable in identifying a core set of aerobiological indicators that can be used in future works to unravel PBAPs emission rates on the area of Arceburgo and form a basis to close the gap in knowledge in the interplay between PBAPs and hail formation.