Air conditioner filters purify the air of indoor environments by removing air pollutants and supporting the efficiency of the unit’s cooling function. However, an air conditioner filter can become a microenvironment in which some fungi can grow as dust continues to accumulate and favorable humidity conditions are formed. Fungal growth in air conditioner filters could lead to fungal allergies or fungal diseases, in addition to emitting a foul odor. In an effort to understand what species causes this malodorous problem, we investigated the diversity of fungi found in air conditioners. Fungi were sampled from the collected air conditioner filters and grown on DG18 agar media. After purification for pure isolates, species identification was undertaken. Colony morphology was observed on PDA, MEA, CYA, and OA media. Microstructures of fruiting body, mycelia, and spores were examined using a light microscope. Molecular identification was performed by PCR and sequencing of PCR amplicons, and molecular phylogenetic analysis of sequenced DNA markers, including the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS), the 28S large subunit of the nuclear ribosomal RNA (LSU rDNA), the β-tubulin (BenA) gene, the Calmodulin (CaM) gene, and the DNA-directed RNA polymerase II subunit 2 (RPB2) gene. Through this identification process, we found two fungal species, Aspergillus miraensis and Dichotomopilus ramosissimus, which are unrecorded species in Korea. We will now report their morphological and molecular features.

1. Introduction
2. Material and Methods
    2.1 Collecting air conditioner filter and Isolationof fungal strains
    2.2 Fungal morphological examination and molecularmarker gene analysis
    2.3 Molecular phylogeny analysis
3. Results and Discussion
    3.1 Aspergillus miraensis Hubka et al., PlantSystematics and Evolution 302 (9): 1288 (2016)[MB#816283]
    3.2 Dichotomopilus ramosissimus Wang &Samson, Studies in Mycology 84: 217 (2016)[MB#818869]
4. Conclusion

• Hyun Uk Cho(Department of Microbiology, College of Science and Technology, Dankook University)
• Na Young Yoon(Department of Microbiology, College of Science and Technology, Dankook University)
• Seong Hwan Kim(Department of Microbiology, College of Science and Technology, Dankook University) Corresponding author