Mycoflora of air-conditioners dust from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Using the hair baiting technique, 6 genera and 14 species were collected on Sabouraud's dextrose agar from 37 dust samples from air-conditioners. The most common fungi were Chrysosporium tropicum, C. indicum, C. keratinophilum, Aspergillus flavus followed by Acremonium strictum and Scopulariopsis brevicaulis. Using the dilution-plate method, 26 genera and 52 species were collected from 37 dust samples on glucose-(23 genera and 45 species) and cellulose-(18 genera and 34 species) Czapek's agar at 28 degrees C. The most prevalent species were Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Penicillium chrysogenum, Stachybotrys chartarum, Ulocladium atrum, Mucor racemosus and Fusarium solani and A. niger, A. flavus, Trichoderma viride, P. chrysogenum, Ulocladium atrum, Chaetomium globosum, C. spirale, Stachybotrys chartarum and Mucor racemosus on the two media, respectively.