Publication details

Bioaerosols on the atmospheric super highway: An example of long distance transport of Alternaria spores from the Pannonian Plain to Poland

Authors	GREWLING Lukasz MAGYAR Donat CHLOPEK Kazimiera GRINN-GOFRON Agnieszka GWIAZDOWSKA Julia SIDDIQUEE Asad IANOVICI Nicoleta KASPRZYK Idalia WOJCIK Magdalena LAFFERSOVA Janka MAJKOWSKA-WOJCIECHOWSKA Barbara MYSZKOWSKA Dorota RODINKOVA Victoria BORTNYK Mykyta MALKIEWICZ Malgorzata PIOTROWSKA-WERYSZKO Krystyna SULBORSKA-ROZYCKA Aneta RYBNÍČEK Ondřej SCEVKOVA Jana SIKOPARIJA Branko SKJOTH Carsten Ambelas SMITH Matt BOGAWSKI Pawel
Year of publication	2022
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Science of the Total Environment
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Medicine
Citation
Web	https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722002388?via%3Dihub
Doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153148
Keywords	Alternaria fungal spores; Atmospheric transport; Biometeorology; Pathogens; Aeroallergens; Epidemiology
Description	Alternaria spores are pathogenic to agricultural crops, and the longest and the most severe sporulation seasons are predominantly recorded in rural areas, e.g. the Pannonian Plain (PP) in South-Central Europe. In Poland (Central Europe), airborne Alternaria spore concentrations peak between July and August. In this study, we test the hypothesis that the PP is the source of Alternaria spores recorded in Poland after the main sporulation season (September-October). Airborne Alternaria spores (2005-2019) were collected using volumetric Hirst spore traps located in 38 locations along the potential pathways of air masses, i.e. from Serbia, Romania and Hungary, through the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine, to Northern Poland. Three potential episodes of Long Distance Transport (LDT) were selected and characterized in detail, including the analysis of Alternaria spore data, back trajectory analysis, dispersal modelling, and deDuring selected episodes, increases in Alternaria spore concentrations in Poznan were recorded at unusual times that deviated from the typical diurnal pattern, i.e. at night or during morning hours. Alternaria spore concentrations on markedly increase local exposure to Alternaria spores in the receptor area and pose a risk to both human and plant the existence of an atmospheric super highway that transports bioaerosols from the south to the north of Europe.