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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 1999, p. 138-142, Vol. 65, No. 1
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Ergosterol Content in Various Fungal Species and Biocontaminated Building Materials

Anna-Liisa Pasanen,* Kati Yli-Pietilä, Pertti Pasanen, Pentti Kalliokoski, and Juhani Tarhanen

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kuopio, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland

Received 17 August 1998/Accepted 21 October 1998

This paper reports the ergosterol content for microbial cultures of six filamentous fungi, three yeast species, and one actinomycete and the ergosterol levels in 40 samples of building materials (wood chip, gypsum board, and glass wool) contaminated by microorganisms. The samples were hydrolyzed in alkaline methanol, and sterols were silylated and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The average ergosterol content varied widely among the fungal species over the range of 2.6 to 42 µg/ml of dry mass or 0.00011 to 17 pg/spore or cell. Ergosterol could not be detected in the actinomycete culture. The results for both the fungal cultures and building material samples supported the idea that the ergosterol content reflects the concentration of filamentous fungi but it underestimates the occurrence of yeast cells. The ergosterol content in building material samples ranged from 0.017 to 68 µg/g of dry mass of material. A good agreement between the ergosterol concentration and viable fungal concentrations was detected in the wood chip (r > 0.66, P <=  0.009) and gypsum board samples (r > 0.48, P <=  0.059), whereas no relationship between these factors was observed in the glass wool samples. For the pooled data of the building materials, the ergosterol content correlated significantly with the viable fungal levels (r > 0.63, P < 0.0001). In conclusion, the ergosterol concentration could be a suitable marker for estimation of fungal concentrations in contaminated building materials with certain reservations, including the underestimation of yeast concentrations.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kuopio, P.O. Box 1627, FIN-70211 Kuopio, Finland. Phone: 358 17 163 157. Fax: 358 17 163 230. E-mail: annal.pasanen{at}uku.fi.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 1999, p. 138-142, Vol. 65, No. 1
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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