Abstract
The influence of cultural conditions, particularly the C/N ratio of the medium, growth temperature and nitrogen source, on the amounts of sterol and squalene formed from decane in the mycelium of two strains of Mortierella isabellina (IFO 7884, 7824) was investigated. The sterol content in the mycelium of the strains varied from 0.50.9% of the dry cell weight under cultural conditions. The greatest amounts of sterols and squalene, 15.3mg and 20.5mg/400ml medium, were observed in the strain of IFO 7824 grown at 30°C and a C/N ratio of 24.1 using NH4NO3 as the nitrogen source during 13 days of incubation. The influence of the cultural conditions was investigated on the qualitative and quantitative compositions of the sterols and ergosterol, ergosta-5, 7-dienol and 24-methylenedihydrolanosterol were found to be major sterols in the strains.
