Air pollution in London is increasing, and since 2010 toxic air has been at illegal levels in the capital. The extensive use of diesel engines, together with the burning of other fossil fuels, has been linked to increase particular matter above the considered safety level. What affect does urban air have on fungal spores abundance and diversity, how does this compare to rural, less polluted locations outside of the London haze, and are there frequency differences of known antifungal resistance alleles? To help answer these questions, we have been monitoring the abundance of Aspergillus fumigatus spores (plus others) in the the air above St Mary's hospital using a Burkard spore trap. The Burkard spore trap is a self-contained vacuum pump designed to sample air-borne particles, such as fungal spores, continuously for periods up to seven days. Every Wednesday a party of intrepid explorers head onto the roof of the Medical School building where the Burkard trap sits, symbolically facing the windows of Sir Alexander Fleming's famous lab. Once collected the canister containing a weeks worth of fungal spores (amongst other things...) is shipped off to Rothamsted Research, home to the oldest, continuous agronomic experiments in the world (plus loads of other amazing research) . Here, the DNA from the fungal spores that has landed onto the strip will be extracted. Once the DNA is purified, a string of downstream analyses will be used to help us answer questions related to fungal spore diversity and antifungal resistance frequency in the Big Smoke. Keep your eye out for future updates!
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Fisher Lab
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