DISTRIBUTION AND MYCOTOXIN-PRODUCING ABILITY OF SOME FUNGAL ISOLATES FROM THE AIR

Research was carried out on presence and prevalence of common fungal a ir spores at locations in Croatia. The sampling method employed in the study was by exposure 350 of Petri agar plates to the air for 10 min. Approximately 3400 Colonies were found and mould spores belonging to 22 fungal genera were identified. Cladosporium (44.7%), Penicillium (3 4.4%), Alternaria (26.3%), Aspergillus (21.6%) and Absidia (12.2%) wer e the most prevalent fungi encountered Investigation of toxigenic pote ntial of airborne fungi isolates of genera Aspergillus, Fusarium and T richoderma showed 16.9% mycotoxin-producing strains. The production of aflatoxin B-1 by A. flavus, sterigmatocystin by A. versicolor, zearal enon and T-2 toxin by F. graminearum and diacetoscirpenol by strains o f T. viride were obtained. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd