A critical assessment of the validity of ergosterol as an indicator of fungal biomass
Bermingham, S., Maltby, L. and Cooke, R. C.
1995 Mycological Research, 99(4), 479-484
Bermingham, S., Maltby, L. and Cooke, R. C., (1995), "A critical assessment of the validity of ergosterol as an indicator of fungal biomass", Mycological Research, 99(4), 479-484.
Abstract:
The relationship between ergosterol content and biomass of nine species of aquatic hyphomycetes was examined. In only three species (Flagellospora curvula, Tetrachaetum elegans and Tetracladium marchalianum) was there a significant regression between mycelial ergosterol content and biomass. Interspecific variation in ergosterol content was also evident. Consequently, for species in which direct relationships between ergosterol and biomass occur, ergosterol could still be an unreliable measure of total biomass.