Abstract

Senthamizhselvi S., Angelin Buela Caroline M., *B. K. Nayak and Anima Nanda

ABSTRACT

Similar to fungal spores, airborne actinomycete spores are significant pollutants in both indoors and outdoors of the workplaces and the homes. Their release into the air, aerodynamic and physical size while in the air, and survival following collection onto agar were investigated by gravitation plate method. The isolation of airborne actinomycetes was carried out by two different time intervals from extra and intramural environments of Puducherry city viz., Rock beach, Animal slaughter house, Flower market, Secretariat office and Hotel. The media plates were Potato Dextrose Agar, Starch Casein Agar, Actinomycetes Isolation Agar, Glycerol Asparagine Agar and Sabouraud Dextrose Agar. Glycerol Asparagine Agar (GAA) was recognized as one of the compatible media to isolate actinomycetes from air compared to Starch Casein Agar (SCA) and Actinomycete Isolation Agar (AIA). The findings demonstrated that the incubation conditions, temperature, duration and the media nutrients are necessary for the production of spores and their release into the atmosphere are distinct from those required merely for colony expansion. The cultures of actinomycetes were required more drying before spores could be released. An aerodynamic particle size was measured for the spores' aerodynamic diameters, which ranged from 0.50 mm to 1.20 mm. The physical sizes of the spores were smaller than those previously described in the literature, according to measurements made with a microscope and an image analysis system. On agar media, the spores recovered relatively in a range from 0.5 to 35%. The findings suggest that a number of factors, including the species and sampling flow rate, have a significant impact on the cultivability of the airborne actinomycete spores that were collected. As a result, alternatives to the usual cultivation techniques must be created in order to count actinomycete spores.