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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 1998, p. 3807-3812, Vol. 64, No. 10
Aerosol Research and Exposure Assessment
Laboratory, Department of Environmental Health, University of
Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45267-0056,1 and
Health Research Services Division, DynCorp, Durham, North
Carolina 277032
Received 27 April 1998/Accepted 5 August 1998
Airborne actinomycete spores, important contaminants in
occupational and residential environments, were studied with respect to
their (i) release into the air, (ii) aerodynamic and physical size
while airborne, and (iii) survival after collection onto agar with an
impactor. Three actinomycete species were selected for the tests to
exemplify the three main spore types: Streptomyces albus
for arthrospores, Micromonospora halophytica for
aleuriospores, and Thermoactinomyces vulgaris for
endospores. The results show that the incubation conditions
(temperature, time, and nutrients) needed for the development of spores
for their release into air are different from the conditions that are
needed for colony growth only. Additional drying of M. halophytica and T. vulgaris cultures was needed
before spores could be released from the culture. The aerodynamic sizes
of the spores, measured with an aerodynamic particle sizer, ranged from
0.57 (T. vulgaris) to 1.28 µm (M. halophytica). The physical sizes of the spores, when measured with a microscope and an image analysis system, were found to be
smaller than previously reported in the literature. The relative recovery of the spores on agar media ranged from 0.5 (T. vulgaris) to 35% (S. albus). The results indicate
that the culturability of the collected airborne actinomycete spores
varies widely and is affected by several variables, such as the species
and the sampling flow rate. Therefore, alternatives to commonly used
cultivation methods need to be developed for the enumeration of
actinomycete spores.
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Characteristics of Airborne Actinomycete
Spores
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Aerosol Research
and Exposure Assessment Laboratory, Department of Environmental
Health, University of Cincinnati, P.O. Box 670056, Cincinnati, OH
45267-0056. Phone: (513) 558-0571. Fax: (513) 558-2263. E-mail:
Tiina.Reponen{at}uc.edu.
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