Vélez-Rodríguez, Zuleimary

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    Uso de drones para la recuperación de esporas de hongos en la baja atmósfera
    (2018-11-30) Vélez-Rodríguez, Zuleimary; Maldonado-Ramírez, Sandra L.; College of Arts and Sciences - Sciences; Torres Pratts, Hernán; Cafaro, Matías; Department of Biology; Palomera, Rogelio
    Aerobiology is responsible for studying atmospheric biological particulate such as pollen and fungal spores. Dispersion of this particulate is widespread, so its capture can be difficult, and, for this reason, different methods have been developed to achieve their capture. In this research a modified unmanned aerial vehicle, commonly known as drone, with spore traps was used to confirm it as an effective method for collecting spores and pollen from the lower atmosphere. Two areas with different anthropogenic activity, urban and rural, were chosen. In both, twelve samplings of 5 minutes flights were made, where the samplers were opened, and Petri dishes were exposed to collect viable particulate. Also, adhesive slides were exposed to collect non-viable particulate. Viable samples were cultivated, isolated and identified to observe diversity and frequency of the captured fungal genera. From non-viable samples, fungal spores and pollen, were observed directly under the microscope and identified. From the viable samples, 55 colonies were identified within 11 genera: Cladosporium, Curvularia, Fusarium, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Nigrospora, Pestalotia, Rhizopus, Colletotrichum, Paecilomyces and Leptosphaerulina. From the non-viable samples, 54 genera of fungal spores and 17 pollen genera were identified.