title: Targeting allergenic fungi in agricultural environments aids the identification of major sources and potential risks for human health.
abstract: Fungi are, after pollen, the second most important producers of outdoor airborne allergens. To identify sources of airborne fungal allergens, a workflow for qPCR quantification from environmental samples was developed, thoroughly tested, and finally applied. We concentrated on determining the levels of allergenic fungi belonging to Alternaria, Cladosporium, Fusarium, and Trichoderma in plant and soil samples from agricultural fields in which cereals were grown. Our aims were to identify the major sources of allergenic fungi and factors potentially influencing their occurrence. Plant materials were the main source of the tested fungi at and after harvest. Amounts of A. alternata and C. cladosporioides varied significantly in fields under different management conditions, but absolute levels were very high in all cases. This finding suggests that high numbers of allergenic fungi may be an inevitable side effect of farming in several crops. Applied in large-scale studies, the concept described here may help to explain the high number of sensitization to airborne fungal allergens.
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology, Neuherberg, Germany. Electronic address: fabian.weikl@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Weikl
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Research Unit Environmental Genomics, Neuherberg, Germany. Electronic address: viviane.radl@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Radl
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany. Electronic address: munch@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Munch
authors.affiliation: Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute of Biochemical Plant Pathology, Neuherberg, Germany. Electronic address: pritsch@helmholtz-muenchen.de.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pritsch
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D000391:Air Microbiology; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005658:Fungi; D006801:Humans; D013172:Spores, Fungal
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000485:Allergens
keywords: Agriculture; Allergy source monitoring; Harvest; Outdoor allergenic fungi; Plant; Soil