Overview

This report characterises the fungal community detected in air or surface samples from the assessed household. Sequencing data were produced using an ITS amplicon barcode pipeline and classified against a curated fungal reference database. Detected taxa are cross-referenced against a curated risk annotation database (fungal_risk_database.xlsx) to assign health-hazard levels and environmental context.

How to read this report

  • Figure 1 shows the relative abundance of the 30 most prevalent taxa, colour-coded by risk level.
  • Table 1 Color coded summary table of taxa with known risk profiles.
  • Table 2 (interactive table) lists every detected taxon with its risk classification, health effects, and preferred growing environments.
  • Risk levels range from Low (minor environmental fungi) through Very High (potent pathogens / mycotoxin producers requiring immediate remediation).

Data Preparation

Key Statistics

Metric Value
Total taxa detected 310
Distinct genera 173
High / Very High risk taxa 4
Most abundant taxon Cladosporiaceae (family) (56.0%)

Figure 1 — Rank Abundance Plot (Top 30 Taxa)

The bars are ordered by decreasing relative abundance and coloured by health-risk category. The y-axis uses a square-root scale to make low-abundance taxa visible alongside dominant ones.

Table 1: Risk Summary. This is a summary table of taxa with known risk profiles identified in your sample.

display_label Category Risk Level Combined Abundance
Aspergillus flavus Toxigenic Very High 0.04%
Aspergillus niger Toxigenic High 0.17%
Aspergillus terreus Pathogenic High 0.01%
Aspergillus westerdijkiae Toxigenic High 0.77%
Aspergillus penicillioides Allergenic Moderate 0.03%
Byssochlamys spectabilis Toxigenic Moderate 0.02%
Penicillium adametzioides Allergenic Moderate 0.11%
Candida argentea Low Risk Low 0.04%
Hyphoderma setigerum Low Risk Low 0.06%
Thermoascus crustaceus Low Risk Low 0.02%
Thermomyces lanuginosus Low Risk Low 0.03%

Table 2 — Full Annotated Species/Taxa Table

The table below lists all detected taxa alongside their risk classification, known health effects, and preferred growing environments. Use the search box or column filters to explore specific taxa. Click column headers to sort.

⚠️ Very High Risk Taxa Detected

The following taxa require immediate attention and professional remediation:

  • Aspergillus flavus (0.040% relative abundance) — Aflatoxin production (potent carcinogen); lung/sinus infections; disseminated disease; liver damage

🔶 High Risk Taxa Detected

The following high-risk taxa were identified and warrant investigation:

  • Aspergillus westerdijkiae (0.766% relative abundance) — Ochratoxin A production (nephrotoxic, possibly carcinogenic); respiratory effects
  • Aspergillus niger (0.171% relative abundance) — Respiratory infections; otomycosis (ear infection); ochratoxin A production; potential invasive disease
  • Aspergillus terreus (0.009% relative abundance) — Invasive aspergillosis (naturally resistant to amphotericin B); disseminated disease

Recommendations

Methods

Sequencing data: ITS amplicon barcode pipeline; relative abundances represent the proportion of filtered reads assigned to each taxon in sample r params$sample_id.

Taxonomy: Taxonomic strings follow SILVA/UNITE hierarchical notation (k__, p__, c__, o__, f__, g__, s__ prefixes). Taxa without genus-level classification are displayed at the lowest resolved rank.

Risk annotation: Detected taxa were matched against fungal_risk_database.xlsx (n = 89 genus/species entries) using exact genus-then-species matching. Taxa with no database match are classified as ‘Unknown’.

Risk levels: Low (primarily environmental, minor allergens) | Moderate (allergenic, sensitiser for susceptible individuals) | High (documented pathogenic or strongly toxigenic) | Very High (life-threatening pathogen or potent carcinogen/neurotoxin).

Analysis: Performed in R r R.version$major.r R.version$minor with tidyverse r packageVersion('tidyverse'), readxl r packageVersion('readxl'), ggplot2 r packageVersion('ggplot2'), and DT r packageVersion('DT').

Report generated on 2026-07-27 16:16 EDT using SporeSeq Barcode Pipeline.