Biomarkers as indicators of fungal biomass in the atmosphere of São Paulo, Brazil

• Grant number: 15/13650-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: August 05, 2015
• End date: September 04, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Meteorology
• Principal Investigator: Maria de Fátima Andrade
• Grantee: Ana Paula Mendes Emygdio
• Supervisor: Guenter Engling
• Host Institution: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades (EACH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), Taiwan
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/23274-9 - FUNGAL ORIGIN BIOAEROSOLS IDENTIFICATION IN THE CITY OF SÃO PAULO, BP.MS

Abstract

Nowadays there are very few studies related to the characterization of biological components present in the particulate matter (PM) of the atmospheric aerosols. The biogenic components of the PM can have a direct relationship with the outbreak of respiratory diseases and can also be linked to changes in climate processes. Studies indicate that spores of fungi are one of the major biological compounds present in the atmosphere. In places like Brazil, the growth of fungi is favored, becoming a major problem for public health. Among the various methods, that exist to quantify the total fungal biomass present in the atmosphere, there is not an ideal method for all situations. The goal of this work is to determinate the mass of the bioaerosols with a fungal origin, in the atmosphere of Sao Paulo, which has never been done before. We intend with this analysis to determinate how much of the PM10 mass is due to fungi structures, and to compare the results of the two methodologies: the total bioaerosols and biomarkers. For sampling will be used a sampler from Airmetrics MiniVol, to collect the samples that will be analysed for the determination of biomarkers and inorganic analysis. The samples will be collected daily. The results will help in the characterization of airborne fungi in the atmosphere of São Paulo, and in determining fungal biomass contribution to the particulate matter. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MENDES EMYGDIO, ANA PAULA; ANDRADE, MARIA DE FAIMA; TEIXEIRA GONCALVES, FABIO LUIZ; ENGLING, GUENTER; DE SOUZA ZANETTI, RAFAEL HENRIQUE; KUMAR, PRASHANT. Biomarkers as indicators of fungal biomass in the atmosphere of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Science of The Total Environment, v. 612, p. 809-821, JAN 15 2017. (15/13650-9, 08/58104-8, 13/23274-9)