{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:15:23Z","timestamp":1760058923847,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,6]],"date-time":"2025-05-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746489600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"RumiRes: Epidemiological Surveillance and Awareness of Antimicrobial Resistance and Drug Residues in Small Ruminants in the Central Region","award":["PRR-C05-i03-I-000190"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PRR-C05-i03-I-000190"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JoF"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Cave environments represent extreme and underexplored ecosystems wherein fungi play a crucial role in nutrient cycling and ecological dynamics. This study provides the first comprehensive assessment of fungal diversity in air samples from caves across Portugal, with six samples from five locations being assessed through culture-dependent and metabarcoding approaches. From the five bat roosts studied, eleven morphologically distinct fungal colonies were isolated, with genera such as Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Chaetomium identified. Concurrently, Oxford Nanopore sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of fungal rDNA revealed 286 genera, with Aspergillus, Candida, and Calyptella dominating across the sites. Diversity indices and community composition analyses, including Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) and hierarchical clustering, highlighted distinct fungal profiles influenced by site-specific environmental factors and human activity. The data underscores the dual role of fungi in bat roosts as essential decomposers, emphasizing their adaptability to oligotrophic conditions. These findings advance our understanding of subterranean fungal ecology and emphasize the need for targeted conservation efforts to protect cave ecosystems from anthropogenic impacts.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jof11050360","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,6]],"date-time":"2025-05-06T04:28:22Z","timestamp":1746505702000},"page":"360","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Airborne Fungal Spore Diversity Assessment Using Culture-Dependent and Metabarcoding Approaches in Bat-Inhabited Natural and Anthropogenic Roosts in Portugal"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-1324-8902","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jaqueline T.","family":"Bento","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS), University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-2828-7202","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guilherme","family":"Moreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS), University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2948-5809","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eug\u00e9nia","family":"Pinto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Microbiology, Biological Sciences Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto (FFUP), 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"CIIMAR\u2014Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, 4450-208 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Priscilla","family":"Gomes da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS), University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"LEPABE\u2014Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"ALiCE\u2014Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7118-4068","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hugo","family":"Rebelo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vair\u00e3o, 4485-661 Vair\u00e3o, Portugal"},{"name":"CE3C\u2014Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes & CHANGE\u2014Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ci\u00eancias, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1296-5964","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joana","family":"Mour\u00e3o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, 2800 Copenhagen, Denmark"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4139-673X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sofia I. V.","family":"Sousa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"LEPABE\u2014Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"ALiCE\u2014Associate Laboratory in Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8769-8103","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o R.","family":"Mesquita","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS), University of Porto, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Centro de Estudos de Ci\u00eancia Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ci\u00eancias, Tecnologias e Agroambiente (ICETA), Universidade do Porto (UP), 4051-401 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Science (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.5038\/1827-806X.39.1.2","article-title":"Pathogenic and Opportunistic Microorganisms in Caves","volume":"39","author":"Jurado","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int. 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