Tanusree Chakraborty

Bio: Tanusree Chakraborty is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Alternaria tenuissima & Alternaria. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 6 citations.

Study of aeromycoflora in indoor and outdoor environment of national library, kolkata

Abstract: We aimed at the systematic evaluation of air-borne fungal flora of the National Library, Kolkata for a period of three months beginning from February to April, 2010 to determine their identification, concentration and diversity in both indoor and outdoor environment to understand the cumulative aeromycoflora composition. The period of study was the post winter period followed by pre-summer months that was mild to moderate warm and low to high humid condition with temperature and humidity ranges of 17.0-38.2°C and 26-92% respectively. Air sample was collected with interval of two weeks by means of gravitational settling method using petri dishes with Malt Extract Agar (MEA) media. Fungal colonies that formed after 3-5 days incubation period at 25-28°C were identified on the basis of micro and macro morphological characteristics and finally percentage contributions of individual fungal species were calculated. A total of 21 types of fungal spores were identified from indoor environment with 5 sterile hyphae and 13 unidentified spore types. In case of outdoor environment, total number of spore types encountered was 19 along with 12 sterile hyphae and 6 miscellaneous types were recorded under unidentified spore type. The prevailing presence of Aspergillus niger, Alternaria tenuissima, Cladosporium herbarum and Penicillium sp. were accounted for a high percentage in indoor environment whereas outdoor environment showed clear dominance of Alternaria alternata, Asperillus niger, Alternaria tenussima, Cladosporium herbarum, Cladosporium cladosporioides, Curvularia lunata and Fusarium oxysporum. Among all the fungal spore types the taxonomic group Deuteromycotina showed dominance in total spore contribution. Biomonitoring of aeromycoflora is a key to open the information of sensitivity towards bioaerosol in this atmosphere and our findings may be useful with regard to the investigation of corrective measures to save the library materials from fungal damage and diagnosis and prophylaxis of allergic diseases resulting from aeromycoflora composition of this environment.

Belowground Defence Strategies in Plants

Abstract: Plant roots have long been literally and figuratively hidden from sight, despite their unmistakable importance in a plant’s life. Interactions between plant roots and soil microbes indeed seem to take place in a black box, but science is starting to shed some light into this box. This book aims to bring together our current knowledge on the belowground interactions of plant roots with both detrimental and beneficial microbes. This knowledge can form the basis for more environmentally friendly plant disease management of soil-borne pathogens and pests, and the book will be of interest to both plant scientists and students eager to discover the hidden part of a plant’s daily life and survival. Plants are multicellular photosynthetic organisms that have evolved from unicellular fresh water green algae. During their evolution, plants have acquired diverse capabilities that enabled them not only to survive but also to adapt and successfully colonize diverse land environments. In particular, the acquisition of roots or rootlike structures that facilitate extracting water from soil rather than relying on limited amounts of moisture available on the soil surface has no doubt played an important role in plant’s adaptation to life on land. Obviously, roots are also essential for physical attachment of plants to the soil, as well as for nutrient uptake and interaction with soil biota. Plant roots continuously C.M.F. Vos (*) Centre of Microbial and Plant Genetics, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001 Leuven, Belgium Department of Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Technologie park 927, 9052 Ghent, Belgium Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Agriculture, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4067, Australia Scientia Terrae Research Institute, Fortsesteenweg 30A, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, Belgium e-mail: cvo@scientiaterrae.org K. Kazan CSIRO Agriculture St Lucia, 306 Carmody Road, St Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia The Queensland Alliance for Agriculture & Food Innovation (QAAFI), Queensland Bioscience Precinct, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 C.M.F. Vos, K. Kazan (eds.), Belowground Defence Strategies in Plants, Signaling and Communication in Plants, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-42319-7_1 1 explore the soil to sense and transmit diverse belowground signals needed to modify plant architecture. The interaction between plant roots and beneficial microbes (e.g., rhizobia or arbuscular mycorrhiza) can be highly advantageous for both parties and greatly contributes to agriculture. However, the belowground environment can be very hostile as well and plant roots are often threatened by various biotic and abiotic stress factors (e.g., lack of water, oxygen, nutrients; soil acidity, salinity, low temperatures, as well as pathogenic microbes). While the interaction between roots and nonpathogenic microbes can be beneficial, many pathogenic microbes and nematodes can inflict serious damage to roots, restricting plant growth, reducing yield, and even causing plant death. Therefore, plants must differentiate friends from foes to survive in a hostile environment, and the soil and plant roots play essential roles in this process. Despite the importance of plant roots in the overall well-being of plants, crop breeding efforts aimed at improving biotic and abiotic stress tolerance have so far been mostly focused on the aboveground part of the plant. In fact, the roots are often referred to as “the hidden half,” or the “black box,” reflecting the neglected nature of plant root research. Similarly, although root pathogens cause enormous losses on our crop plants, root health has always been a difficult issue to deal with. Possible reasons for this are probably numerous but mainly include the complexity of the belowground environment. Better understanding of the nature of the interaction between plant roots and both beneficial and pathogenic microbes can generate new knowledge leading to the development of novel strategies aimed at boosting plant productivity, while reducing crop losses. As Editors of this Springer book, our objective is to contribute to the ongoing efforts in this area by bringing together contributors who are leading researchers in their respective areas. The first part of the book focuses on the general plant responses to soil microbes and the role that root exudates play in this process, both highly active research domains. The first chapter of this part (chapter “Belowground Defence Strategies in Plants: Parallels Between Root Responses to Beneficial and Detrimental Microbes”) highlights the parallels that are increasingly emerging in plant root responses to beneficial and pathogenic microbes. The next chapter (chapter “Root Exudates as Integral Part of Belowground Plant Defence”) details the essential and versatile roles of root exudates in belowground plant defences, impacting both detrimental and beneficial microbes. The second part of the book then zooms in on the belowground defence strategies against specific root pathogens. Fungal root pathogens are represented by Fusarium oxysporum (chapter “Belowground Defence Strategies Against Fusarium oxysporum”), Rhizoctonia (chapter “Belowground Defence Strategies Against Rhizoctonia”), and Verticillium (chapter “Belowground Defence Strategies Against Verticillium Pathogens”). Next in line are the plant root responses to the oomycete pathogens Phytophthora (chapter “Belowground and Aboveground Strategies of Plant Resistance Against Phytophthora Species”) and Pythium (chapter “Belowground Signaling and Defence in Host–Pythium Interactions”). Protists are represented by the clubroot pathogen Plasmodiophora brassicae (chapter 2 C.M.F. Vos and K. Kazan

Root Interactions with Nonpathogenic Fusarium oxysporum

Abstract: In this review, we tried to present Fusarium oxysporum in an ecological context rather than to confine it in the too classic double play of the nonpathogenic fungus that protects the plant against the corresponding forma specialis. Moreover, F. oxysporum is sometimes one, sometimes the other, and only the fungus can reveal its hidden face, according to it is or not in front of the target plant. Despite the quality and richness of the studies conducted to date, molecular approaches highlight some of the evolutionary mechanisms that explain the polyphyletic nature of this species, but still they do not identify a nonpathogenic F. oxysporum.

Fungal Biodiversity of a Library and Cellulolytic Activity of Some Fungi

Abstract: The fungal spore incidence inside Gandhi Gyan library of Wardha city was recorded by exposing potato dextrose agar and Czapek Dox agar culture media petri plates for 10 min and then incubating at 28±1° for 4-5 d. The plates were regularly examined. Number of fungal colonies was recorded from the library for six months in the year 2011. Among the various species encountered Aspergillus niger, A. fumigatus were the dominant fungi in the library. Investigations by the petri plate exposure culture plate method helped us in determining the occurrence of fungal species in the air inside the selected library which also causes allergic diseases to human beings working therein. The fungi were also isolated from highly damaged, old and unreadable books. The cellulolytic activity and damage of library materials by some common airborne fungi were studied. Fungi play an important role in the decomposition of cellulose in nature. The present investigation deals with the isolation of fungal species from indoor environment of library and also cellulose degrading fungal species from library books for their cellulolytic capabilities, based on loss in weight of newspaper and book paper discs.

Fungal diversity of air and air-conditioning systems in different schools of mazandaran university of medical sciences

Abstract: Background and purpose: Biological pollution in indoor air is mostly created through bacteria and fungi which are harmful to human health. In the present study we evaluated the fungal diversity of air and air-conditioning systems in different schools of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Materials and methods: The samples were collected from some rooms in different schools of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences during spring and summer, 2014. The Quick Take 30 Pumpair sampler and carpet sterile fragments were applied for sampling of air and filter surfaces of air conditioners, respectively. The grown fungi were identified by routine mycological methods. Results: Aspergillus was the most frequently species isolated from air samples (408 colonies, 28.26%) and surface samples (347 colonies, 24.89%). The highest fungal concentration level was reported from School of Medicine with Aspergillus (1152 CFU/m). Among the Aspergillus species, A. niger (43.2%) and A. flavus (34.8%) were the most frequent species from the air and surface samples, respectively. Conclusion: Both sampling methods showed that the School of Medicine had the highest level of fungal contamination over the study period. The high concentration levels of airborne fungi may increase the risk of respiratory diseases. Aspergillus which was commonly found in this study is one of the main mycotoxin producers in nature and is strongly associated with allergic respiratory disease, especially asthma.

Air monitoring of fungal spores inside the B. J. Wadia Library, Pune, India

Abstract: The airborne fungal spores show great variation in composition, concentration and may vary from place to place. The types and concentration of fungal spores is determined by time, day, weather parameters and seasons. The fungal spores play a major role in biodeterioration which occurs in library materials and it is worldwide problem causing great damage especially to unique manuscripts and books stored in the libraries (Zyska, 1993). The biodeterioration occurs mainly because of substrates like paper which is a main source of cellulose, and also binding glue, canvas cloth covering and in some cases leather as a binding material. All these substrates support active fungal growth and sporulation. The fungal spores are of immense importance in inciting the disorders in human beings. The allergy may occur to sensitive visitors due to handling of such biodeteriorated books and dust accumulated on the books. The students, visitors and teaching faculties who visit the library may suffer from lung infection that causes respiratory problems leading to allergy or cardiac diseases and dermatitis. The B. J. Wadia library of Fergusson College is one of the largest academic and historical libraries in Asia, known for its rare and valuable collection. The library is International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 4 Number 4 (2015) pp. 35-40 http://www.ijcmas.com