ID OF AEROALLERGENIC FUNGI IN RURAL AG, MINE & INDUSTRIAL SOURCES IN BACK HILLS

University Of South Dakota, Vermillion SD

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Abstract

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The impact that aeroallergenic fungi have on people's health is of great interest to health institutions for understanding how aeroallergenic fungi relate to health problems such as atopic asthma and other respiratory illnesses. In conjunction with the Great Plains Center for Atmospheric and Human Health in the Black Hills of S.D., we will assess the diversity of airborne fungal conidia and hyphal fragments in this area. We will analyze our air samples by first extracting DNA from the samples, then running the DNA though PCR in order to amplify the regions of the DNA used to identify species. Later, we will sequence the amplified regions and compare our sequences with databases to identify our samples. The genomic regions that will be used for species identification include the internal transcriber spacer regions (ITS1 and ITS2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA and the D1-D2 variable region of the large nuclear subunit rDNA. After completion, this project will aid in better understanding of how aeroallergenic fungi produce from areas of disturbed earth relate to respiratory diseases.