Post by pattyp on Aug 4, 2009 18:01:11 GMT -5
Hi everyone. The scientific journal PNAS just published an article describing the fungal spores found in the air around us.
The authors counted an astonishing 1,000-10,000 spores per cubic meter of air, which represented over 1,000 different species of fungi.
They account for the largest fraction of particles in the air.
About 34% of the spores were from the phylum Ascomycota, which contains many plant pathogens. Another 64% were of the phylum Basidiomycota, including organisms such as mushrooms and puffballs, but also the dreaded rust. Although the numbers of spores in the air remained fairly constant throughout the year, there was a large seasonal fluctuation between the two phyla.
Fortunately, many plant pathogenic spores were found mostly as course particles (so they dropped out of the air more quickly than a finer particle would) and therefore spent less time infecting new hosts.
I just wanted to share this picture of the microscopic entities that our plants (and us) are exposed to everyday
The authors counted an astonishing 1,000-10,000 spores per cubic meter of air, which represented over 1,000 different species of fungi.
They account for the largest fraction of particles in the air.About 34% of the spores were from the phylum Ascomycota, which contains many plant pathogens. Another 64% were of the phylum Basidiomycota, including organisms such as mushrooms and puffballs, but also the dreaded rust. Although the numbers of spores in the air remained fairly constant throughout the year, there was a large seasonal fluctuation between the two phyla.
Fortunately, many plant pathogenic spores were found mostly as course particles (so they dropped out of the air more quickly than a finer particle would) and therefore spent less time infecting new hosts.
I just wanted to share this picture of the microscopic entities that our plants (and us) are exposed to everyday
