%0 Journal Article
%T Incidence of Fungi in Water Springs of Samahni Valley, District Bhimber, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan
%A Tanveer Hussain
%A Muhammad Ishtiaq Ch
%A Altaf Hussain
%A Tariq Mehmood
%J International Journal of Biology
%D 2010
%I 
%R 10.5539/ijb.v2n2p94
%X Fungi have great impacts on socio-economic conditions and health of human beings. In current research, incidence of mycoflora associated with different water springs of Samahni Valley (SV), district Bhimber, Azad Kashmir was screened by using Plating and Baiting Techniques. The pH value of water samples ranged from 5.5 to7.5. The minimum and maximum temperature of sampled springs was between 18oC¨C36oC. Total 33 fungal specimens belonging to 21 different species were isolated from different analyzed samples by employing two approaches. In Baiting Technique (BT) 13 species and in Direct Plate Method (DPM) 8 species were isolated, respectively. Highest number of mycoflora was determined by BT, followed by DPM. Aspergillus sp. was dominant species followed by Cephalosporium sp. and Botrytis sp. found in drinking water of springs. The highest number of species was found in Parshala sample (6 spp) which proves that place has favorable conditions for flourishing of fungi. The present study depicts that various springs of SV have different number of mycoflora depending on soil type, temperature, altitude and neighboring flora. Furthermore, ethnobotanical study of the area indicates that these pathogenic species present in spring water cause many diseases in plants, animals and human beings, hence hampering health and economic status of inhabitants. It is recommend that precautionary and practical measures should be formulated and implemented before using water of these springs for drinking or other agriculture purposes.
%U http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijb/article/view/6610