Species diversity and cytotoxic potency of airborne sterigmatocystin-producing Aspergilli from the section Versicolores.
This study presents the distribution and species diversity of sterigmatocystin-producing Aspergilli from the section Versicolores in the indoor air of apartment-AP, basements-BS and grain mill-GM in Croatia, as well as the cytotoxic potency of isolates. The species comprised 0.7-20% of total airborne fungi detected in the AP, 11-55% in the BS, and 0-2% in the GM. Based on CaM sequences, seven species were identified; dominant were Aspergillus jensenii and Aspergillus creber, followed by Aspergillus protuberus, Aspergillus venenatus, Aspergillus tennesseensis, Aspergillus amoenus, Aspergillus griseoaurantiacus and three undescribed species. All of the identified species produced sterigmatocystin-STC (HPLC/UV-VIS); A. griseoaurantiacus (208.29μg/mL) and A. jensenii (1.192-133.63μg/mL) produced the highest levels, the lowest were detected in A. protuberus and A. tennesseensis (0.117-2.749μg/mL). Lower species diversity was obtained in the GM due to overgrowth with more propulsive fungi. Relatively high STC levels (0.06-2.35μg/g) detected in 52% of GM dust samples confirmed the presence of STC-producers, although this STC cannot be exclusively attributed to Aspergilli (Versicolores). STC and the majority of STC-producing Aspergilli were cytotoxic to human lung A549 cells (IC50 0.9-2.3μg/mL) and THP-1 macrophage-like cells (IC50 0.3-0.6μg/mL) in relatively low concentrations suggesting that humans can be at high risk during chronic exposure.
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, Schrottova 39, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia.
Daniela Jakšić
DJ
Despot
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, H-6726 Szeged, Közép fasor 52, Hungary.
Sandor
S
Kocsubé
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, H-6726 Szeged, Közép fasor 52, Hungary.
Ottó
O
Bencsik
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, H-6726 Szeged, Közép fasor 52, Hungary.
Anita
A
Kecskeméti
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, H-6726 Szeged, Közép fasor 52, Hungary.
András
A
Szekeres
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, H-6726 Szeged, Közép fasor 52, Hungary.
Csaba
C
Vágvölgyi
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Science and Informatics, University of Szeged, H-6726 Szeged, Közép fasor 52, Hungary.
Janos
J
Varga
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, Schrottova 39, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia. Electronic address: msegvic@pharma.hr.
Maja Šegvić
MŠ
Klarić
D000391:Air Microbiology; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D017523:Croatia; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D014644:Genetic Variation; D013241:Sterigmatocystin / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
D013241:Sterigmatocystin
Airborne fungi; Cytotoxicity; Dust; Mycotoxin; Sterigmatocystin; Versicolores