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      A comparison of several media types and basic techniques used to assess outdoor airborne fungi in Melbourne, Australia

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          Abstract

          Despite the recent increase in interest in indoor air quality regarding mould, there is no universally accepted standard media for the detection of airborne fungi, nor verification of many commonly used techniques. Commonly used media including malt-extract agar (MEA), Sabouraud dextrose agar (Sab), potato dextrose agar (PDA) with and without antibiotics chloramphenicol & gentamycin (CG) were compared for their suitability in detecting a range of airborne fungi by collecting 150 L outdoor air on a number of different days and seasons via an Anderson 400-hole sampler in suburban Melbourne, Australia. There was relatively little variation in mean numbers of colony forming units (CFU) and types of fungi recovered between MEA, PDA, Sab media groups relative to variation within each group. There was a significant difference between Sab, Dichloran-18% glycerol (DG18) and V8® Original juice agar media, however. Antibiotics reliably prevented the growth of bacteria that typically interfered with the growth and appearance of fungal colonies. There was no significant evidence for a growth enhancing factor from potato, mineral supplements or various vegetable juices. Differing glucose concentrations had modest effects, showing a vague ideal at 2%-4% with peptone. Sanitisation of the aluminium Andersen 400-hole sampler top-plate by flame is possible, but not strictly required nor advisable. The use of SabCG as a standard medium was generally supported.

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          Effects of dispersal and selection on stochastic assembly in microbial communities.

          Stochastic processes can play an important role in microbial community assembly. Dispersal limitation is one process that can increase stochasticity and obscure relationships between environmental variables and microbial community composition, but the relationship between dispersal, selection and stochasticity has not been described in a comprehensive way. We examine how dispersal and its interactions with drift and selection alter the consistency with which microbial communities assemble using a realistic, individual-based model of microbial decomposers. Communities were assembled under different environmental conditions and dispersal rates in repeated simulations, and we examined the compositional difference among replicate communities colonizing the same type of leaf litter ('within-group distance'), as well as between-group deterministic selection. Dispersal rates below 25% turnover per year resulted in high within-group distance among communities and no significant environmental effects. As dispersal limitation was alleviated, both within- and between-group distance decreased, but despite this homogenization, deterministic environmental effects remained significant. In addition to direct effects of dispersal rate, stochasticity of community composition was influenced by an interaction between dispersal and selection strength. Specifically, communities experiencing stronger selection (less favorable litter chemistries) were more stochastic, possibly because lower biomass and richness intensified drift or priority effects. Overall, we show that dispersal rate can significantly alter patterns of community composition. Partitioning the effects of dispersal, selection and drift based on static patterns of microbial composition will be difficult, if not impossible. Experiments will be required to tease apart these complex interactions between assembly processes shaping microbial communities.
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            Associations between fungal species and water-damaged building materials.

            Fungal growth in damp or water-damaged buildings worldwide is an increasing problem, which has adverse effects on both the occupants and the buildings. Air sampling alone in moldy buildings does not reveal the full diversity of fungal species growing on building materials. One aim of this study was to estimate the qualitative and quantitative diversity of fungi growing on damp or water-damaged building materials. Another was to determine if associations exist between the most commonly found fungal species and different types of materials. More than 5,300 surface samples were taken by means of V8 contact plates from materials with visible fungal growth. Fungal identifications and information on building material components were analyzed using multivariate statistic methods to determine associations between fungi and material components. The results confirmed that Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus versicolor are the most common fungal species in water-damaged buildings. The results also showed Chaetomium spp., Acremonium spp., and Ulocladium spp. to be very common on damp building materials. Analyses show that associated mycobiotas exist on different building materials. Associations were found between (i) Acremonium spp., Penicillium chrysogenum, Stachybotrys spp., Ulocladium spp., and gypsum and wallpaper, (ii) Arthrinium phaeospermum, Aureobasidium pullulans, Cladosporium herbarum, Trichoderma spp., yeasts, and different types of wood and plywood, and (iii) Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus melleus, Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus ochraceus, Chaetomium spp., Mucor racemosus, Mucor spinosus, and concrete and other floor-related materials. These results can be used to develop new and resistant building materials and relevant allergen extracts and to help focus research on relevant mycotoxins, microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs), and microparticles released into the indoor environment.
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              Antifungal Microbial Agents for Food Biopreservation—A Review

              Food spoilage is a major issue for the food industry, leading to food waste, substantial economic losses for manufacturers and consumers, and a negative impact on brand names. Among causes, fungal contamination can be encountered at various stages of the food chain (e.g., post-harvest, during processing or storage). Fungal development leads to food sensory defects varying from visual deterioration to noticeable odor, flavor, or texture changes but can also have negative health impacts via mycotoxin production by some molds. In order to avoid microbial spoilage and thus extend product shelf life, different treatments—including fungicides and chemical preservatives—are used. In parallel, public authorities encourage the food industry to limit the use of these chemical compounds and develop natural methods for food preservation. This is accompanied by a strong societal demand for ‘clean label’ food products, as consumers are looking for more natural, less severely processed and safer products. In this context, microbial agents corresponding to bioprotective cultures, fermentates, culture-free supernatant or purified molecules, exhibiting antifungal activities represent a growing interest as an alternative to chemical preservation. This review presents the main fungal spoilers encountered in food products, the antifungal microorganisms tested for food bioprotection, and their mechanisms of action. A focus is made in particular on the recent in situ studies and the constraints associated with the use of antifungal microbial agents for food biopreservation.
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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: Formal analysisRole: InvestigationRole: MethodologyRole: Project administrationRole: ResourcesRole: SoftwareRole: SupervisionRole: ValidationRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing
                Role: Editor
                Journal
                PLoS One
                PLoS One
                plos
                plosone
                PLoS ONE
                Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )
                1932-6203
                18 December 2020
                2020
                : 15
                : 12
                : e0238901
                Affiliations
                [001]Biotopia Environmental Assessment, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
                Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, CHINA
                Author notes

                Competing Interests: The author has read the journal's policy and has the following competing interest: WDB is the CEO and owner of Biotopia Environmental Assessment Pty Ltd ( http://www.biotopia.com.au/). There are no patents, products in development or marketed products associated with this research to declare. This does not alter the author’s adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6611-4404
                Article
                PONE-D-20-26205
                10.1371/journal.pone.0238901
                7748268
                33338037
                ed2dd6c9-7545-41d9-922b-ad9870e23fae
                © 2020 Wesley D. Black

                This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

                History
                : 20 August 2020
                : 25 November 2020
                Page count
                Figures: 10, Tables: 1, Pages: 25
                Funding
                Biotopia Environmental Assessment Pty Ltd provided support in the form of salary and materials to author WDB. The specific roles of this author is articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. The funder had no commercial or vested interests in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. No additional external funding was received for this study.
                Categories
                Research Article
                Physical Sciences
                Chemistry
                Chemical Compounds
                Organic Compounds
                Carbohydrates
                Monosaccharides
                Glucose
                Physical Sciences
                Chemistry
                Organic Chemistry
                Organic Compounds
                Carbohydrates
                Monosaccharides
                Glucose
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Fungi
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Fungi
                Fungal Molds
                Medicine and Health Sciences
                Pharmacology
                Drugs
                Antimicrobials
                Antibiotics
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Microbiology
                Microbial Control
                Antimicrobials
                Antibiotics
                Physical Sciences
                Chemistry
                Chemical Compounds
                Peptones
                Medicine and Health Sciences
                Pharmacology
                Drugs
                Antimicrobials
                Antibiotics
                Chloramphenicol
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Microbiology
                Microbial Control
                Antimicrobials
                Antibiotics
                Chloramphenicol
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Psychology
                Behavior
                Animal Behavior
                Animal Sociality
                Social Sciences
                Psychology
                Behavior
                Animal Behavior
                Animal Sociality
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Zoology
                Animal Behavior
                Animal Sociality
                Biology and Life Sciences
                Organisms
                Eukaryota
                Plants
                Vegetables
                Custom metadata
                All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.

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