Abstract

Airborne fungi play an important role in the cause of different adverse effects on humans and animals health because of their pathogenicity, allergic reactions and toxicity. The Persian Gulf Islands have a warm and humid climate and there is no information regarding airborne fungi in these regions. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the mycoflora of environments of Iranian islands, namely Greater Tunb, Abu Musa, and Sirri. In this study, a total of 90 air samples were prepared by settle plate method using Sabouraud dextrose agar with Chlo- ramphenicol. The fungal species were identified the bases of morphology, molecular and sequencing techniques. A total of 231 fungal isolates, including 16 genera were detected. Cladosporium was determined as the predominant genus (32.46); Aspergillus (20.34), sterile mycelia (9.08), Alternaria (8.23) and Penicillium (4.75) were revealed as the common fungalspores. In our study, dematiaceous fungi had a high incidence with the frequency of ~56 of total isolated fungi that reason may be due to the resistance of spores in colored fungus against UV rays of the sun. Although different airborne fungi isolated in this study does not necessarily imply a cause and effect relationship with illness, but the results provide a better perception of the diversity and distribution pattern of airborne fungi, which may be beneficial for physicians, allergists, as well as epidemiologists. © 2019 University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. All rights reserved.