Articles | Volume 17, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11247-2017
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11247-2017
Research article
 | 
22 Sep 2017
Research article |  | 22 Sep 2017

Fungi diversity in PM2. 5 and PM1 at the summit of Mt. Tai: abundance, size distribution, and seasonal variation

Caihong Xu, Min Wei, Jianmin Chen, Chao Zhu, Jiarong Li, Ganglin Lv, Xianmang Xu, Lulu Zheng, Guodong Sui, Weijun Li, Bing Chen, Wenxing Wang, Qingzhu Zhang, Aijun Ding, and Abdelwahid Mellouki

Abstract. Fungi are ubiquitous throughout the near-surface atmosphere, where they represent an important component of primary biological aerosol particles. This study combined internal transcribed spacer region sequencing and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to investigate the ambient fungi in fine (PM2. 5, 50 % cutoff aerodynamic diameter Da50 =  2.5 µm, geometric standard deviation of collection efficiency σg =  1.2) and submicron (PM1, Da50 =  1 µm, σg =  1.2) particles at the summit of Mt. Tai located in the North China Plain, China. Fungal abundance values were 9.4  ×  104 and 1.3  ×  105 copies m−3 in PM2. 5 and PM1, respectively. Most of the fungal sequences were from Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, which are known to actively discharge spores into the atmosphere. The fungal community showed a significant seasonal shift across different size fractions according to Metastats analysis and the Kruskal–Wallis rank sum test. The abundance of Glomerella and Zasmidium increased in larger particles in autumn, whereas Penicillium, Bullera, and Phaeosphaeria increased in smaller particles in winter. Environmental factors, namely Ca2+, humidity, and temperature, were found to be crucial for the seasonal variation in the fungal community. This study might serve as an important reference for fungal contribution to primary biological aerosol particles.

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Short summary
Fungi are ubiquitous throughout the near-surface atmosphere, where they represent an important component of primary biological aerosol particles. The diversity and composition of the fungal communities varied over the different seasons between the fine (PM2.5) and submicron (PM1) particles at the summit of Mt. Tai located in the North China Plain, China. This work may serve as an important reference for the fungal contribution to primary biological aerosol particles.
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