Mycospora: An interactive internet site for fungus spore identification

Identifying and quantifying fungus spores in air samples is important in the disciplines of public and occupational health, epidemiology, allergology, plant pathology, ecology and others. However, while there have been well developed identification and classification tools for pollens for many years, comparatively little is available to identify fungus spores, and practical, useful keys are almost non-existent. The authors have developed a computerized multiple access key expressly for spore identification. This random access key is interactive and will be available on the internet where its database can be updated regularly. It is designed to work without specialized descriptive language by using images in place of words wherever possible. The program includes, but is not exclusive to, spores of importance in occupational and environmental health. Each image is accompanied by data on health effects, morphology, ecology and includes selected references. There is a provision for users to submit images of unusual or unknown spores for incorporation into the database. Even unidentified images may be included with a code number which can be changed to a name when the image is identified.