SUNITHA RANI J. AND PRAVEEN KUMAR NAGADESI
Department of Botany, School of Life Science, St Joseph’s University, Lalbagh Road, Bengaluru -560 027 (Karnataka), India
*(e-mail: nagadesipraveenkumar@yahoo.com ; Mobile: 9490714112)
(Received: December 16, 2023; Accepted: January 31, 2024)
ABSTRACT
The fungal spore distribution in the outdoor environments of different medium size parks like Sunrise park, Central Excise Layout park, Boulevard park and Jothivana park of urban Bengaluru, Karnataka were surveyed for one year. To isolate different spore-producing air borne fungi plate exposure method was used. A total of 130 fungal isolates were obtained from four parks of urban Bengaluru i.e. 28 from Sunrise park, 33 from Central Excise Layout park, 40 from Boulevard park and 27 from Jothivana park. Most frequently isolated fungi from Sunrise park was Aspergillus sp., Central Excise Layout park was Verticillium lecanii, Boulevard park was Epicoccum sp., Trichoderma harzianum, Verticillium sp. and from Jothivana park was Epicoccum sp. Most of these air borne fungi were harmful to plants, animals and humans residing in parks. The different air-borne fungal genera like Aspergillus, Fusarium, Cladosporium, Alternaria, Rhizopus and Nigrospora cause various allergies and respiratory problems in the person’s regularly visiting the parks of study area. For the first time aeromycoflora of parks were reported from Karnataka and second time from India.
Key words: Aeromycoflora, Bengaluru, parks, lungs of the city