Fungal Assemblages on Indoor Surfaces with Visible Mold Growth in Homes after the 2016 Flood Disaster in Thailand
Source abstract
Abstract
Southern Thailand suffers from floods due to heavy rainfalls every year. Post-flood increases in indoor fungi are a public health concern. Here, we investigated fungal assemblages on indoor surfaces with visible mold growth in homes after the 2016 flood disaster in Trang Province in Southern Thailand, using swab sampling followed by high-throughput DNA sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer 1 region. The most abundant phyla detected were Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, with respective mean relative abundances of 87% and 13%. The dominant genera and their mean relative abundances were Leptospora (12.0%), Cystobasidium (7.7%), and Pyrenochaetopsis (6.5%). P-tests showed that indoor visible fungal assemblages in flooded homes in Thailand were significantly different from those in the non-flooded mold-laden homes observed in our previous study in South Korea. We detected 20 genera that contain species that can induce type I allergies, including Alternaria (3.8%) and Trichoderma (4.0%). Genera related to infectious, melanized, and toxigenic fungi were also detected. Indoor fungal measurements gathered using a DNA-based approach revealed fungal communities in homes in Thailand and provide important information about the potential health risks. Future research should examine the fungal infections and allergies that might be caused by flood disasters in less well studied tropical countries.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure · Plant Pathogens and Fungal Diseases · Lichen and fungal ecology
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Walailak University, Thasala, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80160, Thailand
Department of Social and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, 420/6 Ratchawithi Road, Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400, Thailand
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea
Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Korea
Funding
Seoul National University
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