Abundance and Diversity of Psychrotolerant Cultivable Mycobiota in Winter of a Former Aluminous Shale Mine

This paper is a speleomycological report from a former aluminous shale mine in Janowiec, Poland. Fungi were identified morphologically and molecularly. Microclimatic conditions differed significantly between locations of the study. However, the external environment around the mine did not directly increase the community composition and concentration of fungi in the mine. The density of fungi isolated from the air outside the mine was 63.1 colony forming units (CFU) per 1 cm³ of air. Inside the mine, fungal density ranged from 287.5 to 655 CFU per 1 m³ from the air, 28.4 to 131.1 CFU per 1 cm² from the rock surfaces and 288.1 to 335.1 CFU per 1 cm³ from the water. Pearson correlation analysis showed that the levels of fungi isolated from the air were correlated positively with temperature, relative humidity and CO₂ concentration. The concentration of fungi isolated from the rock surfaces showed a positive correlation with air flow. Five species of filamentous fungi were isolated from the sampled external air, 10 species from the internal air, six species from the rock surface and 11 species from the water. The fungi most frequently isolated from the air and water of the mine belonged to Penicillium spp., whereas from the rock surface, Geomyces pannorum was most frequently isolated. Some of the fungi present in the mine can be psychrotolerant and pathogenic for humans and animals, and they can also cause degradation of rocks.