Excitation-dependent fluorescence as a tool to monitor fungal contamination of aquatic environments

Abstract

Fungal contamination of aquatic environments can lead to an adverse impact on the environment and human health. The searching of fast, inexpensive and appropriate methods for detection of fungi is very actuating due to their significant impact on ecosystem functions and human health. We focused on examination of fluorescence proxies able to distinguish chromophoric matter occurring in different fungi. Spectroscopic studies were performed on five strains of filamentous fungi: Trichoderma harzianum, Fusarium solani, Alternaria alternatа, Cladosporium cladosporioides, and Aspergillus terreus. The results showed that most of the fungal autofluorescence was emitted by amino acids, melanin-like compounds, NAD(P)H and flavins. The spectra of five fungal species cultivated as planktonic or surface-associated forms turned out to be different. Protein fluorescence can be used to detect general microbial contamination. Presence of excitation wavelength dependent mode and the “blue shift” of fluorescence (emission bands 400-500 nm) can be suggested as specific feature of fluorescence of fungal melanin-containing samples. The determination based on fluorescence spectra obtained at a certain excitation/emission wavelengths pair and at whole excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) coupled to principal component analysis (PCA) algorithms as a tool of improving detection capabilities can be suggested to enable fast and inexpensive monitoring and quantification of fungal contamination of aquatic environments.

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Speaker

Fedoseeva Elena
Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution
Russia

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