The DOI matches its Crossref record; 38 of the 38 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Phylogenetic Distribution of Fungal Sterols
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Ergosterol has been considered the "fungal sterol" for almost 125 years; however, additional sterol data superimposed on a recent molecular phylogeny of kingdom Fungi reveals a different and more complex situation. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The interpretation of sterol distribution data in a modern phylogenetic context indicates that there is a clear trend from cholesterol and other Delta(5) sterols in the earliest diverging fungal species to ergosterol in later diverging fungi. There are, however, deviations from this pattern in certain clades. Sterols of the diverse zoosporic and zygosporic forms exhibit structural diversity with cholesterol and 24-ethyl -Delta(5) sterols in zoosporic taxa, and 24-methyl sterols in zygosporic fungi. For example, each of the three monophyletic lineages of zygosporic fungi has distinctive major sterols, ergosterol in Mucorales, 22-dihydroergosterol in Dimargaritales, Harpellales, and Kickxellales (DHK clade), and 24-methyl cholesterol in Entomophthorales. Other departures from ergosterol as the dominant sterol include: 24-ethyl cholesterol in Glomeromycota, 24-ethyl cholest-7-enol and 24-ethyl-cholesta-7,24(28)-dienol in rust fungi, brassicasterol in Taphrinales and hypogeous pezizalean species, and cholesterol in Pneumocystis. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Five dominant end products of sterol biosynthesis (cholesterol, ergosterol, 24-methyl cholesterol, 24-ethyl cholesterol, brassicasterol), and intermediates in the formation of 24-ethyl cholesterol, are major sterols in 175 species of Fungi. Although most fungi in the most speciose clades have ergosterol as a major sterol, sterols are more varied than currently understood, and their distribution supports certain clades of Fungi in current fungal phylogenies. In addition to the intellectual importance of understanding evolution of sterol synthesis in fungi, there is practical importance because certain antifungal drugs (e.g., azoles) target reactions in the synthesis of ergosterol. These findings also invalidate use of ergosterol as an indicator of biomass of certain fungal taxa (e.g., Glomeromycota). Data from this study are available from the Assembling the Fungal Tree of Life (AFTOL) Structural and Biochemical Database: http://aftol.umn.edu.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Similar to cholesterol in animals, ergosterol is the main membrane sterol in most fungal species, holding an important role in controlling membrane fluidity [19].”
From Evolutionary Emergence of Drug Resistance in Candida Opportunistic Pathogens (2018) · cites this paper as [19]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
A higher-level phylogenetic classification of the Fungi
Hibbett, D. S., Binder, M., Bischoff, J. F., Blackwell, M., Cannon, P. F., Eriksson, O. E., Huhndorf, S. M., James, T. Y., Kirk, P. M., Lücking, R., et al. (2007) · Mycological Research · doi:10.1016/j.mycres.2007.03.004 · Cited by 2,388
Self-citationReconstructing the early evolution of Fungi using a six-gene phylogeny
James, T. Y., Kauff, F., Schoch, C. L., Matheny, P. B., Hofstetter, V., Cox, C. J., Celio, G. J., Gueidan, C., Fraker, E., Miądlikowska, J., et al. (2006) · Nature · doi:10.1038/nature05110 · Cited by 1,844
Sterol, Structure and Membrane Function
Bloch, K. E. (1983) · Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology · doi:10.3109/10409238309102790 · Cited by 682
Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi
Schmid, R., Hawksworth, D. L., Kirk, P. M., Sutton, B. C., & Pegler, D. N. (1996) · Taxon · doi:10.2307/1224699 · Cited by 481
Binder, M., Hibbett, D. S., Larsson, K., Larsson, E., Langer, E. J., & Langer, G. J. (2005) · Systematics and Biodiversity · doi:10.1017/s1477200005001623 · Cited by 403
Lipid Biochemistry of Fungi and Other Organisms
Weete, J. D. (1980) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4757-0064-0 · Cited by 373
Self-citationThe Class Mesomycetozoea: A Heterogeneous Group of Microorganisms at the Animal-Fungal Boundary
Mendoza, L., Taylor, J. W., & Ajello, L. (2002) · Annual Review of Microbiology · doi:10.1146/annurev.micro.56.012302.160950 · Cited by 322
Newell, S. Y., Arsuffi, T. L., & Fallon, R. D. (1988) · Applied and Environmental Microbiology · doi:10.1128/aem.54.7.1876-1879.1988 · Cited by 264
Multiple functions for sterols in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Rodriguez, R. J., Low, C., Bottema, C. D. K., & Parks, L. W. (1985) · Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Lipids and Lipid Metabolism · doi:10.1016/0005-2760(85)90057-8 · Cited by 253
Phylogeny of the Zygomycota based on nuclear ribosomal sequence data
White, M. M., James, T. Y., O'Donnell, K. L., Cafaro, M. J., Tanabe, Y., & Sugiyama, J. (2006) · Mycologia · doi:10.3852/mycologia.98.6.872 · Cited by 188
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- C Tanret, 1889, Sur un nouveau principle immediate de l'ergot deseigle ergosterine., C.R. Seances Acad Sci, 108, 98
- P Singh, 1966, Occurrence of 22-Dihydroergosterol in Polyporus pargamenus., Curr Sci, 20, 515
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–316 of 316
Diversity, dynamics and functions of planktonic Fungi in coastal areas
Laymand, E. (2024) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/52e51f47z002ez4ffaz9f4dz8b8d474a9c75
Zhang, Z. (2023) · theses.fr (ABES) · doi:10.70675/39f0de46z3a5cz4ecbz9c72zfecd8817e04c · Cited by 1
Ergosterol suppresses NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammatory responses through Bmal1
Nguyen, P. L., Liu, B., Lan, S., Pattabiraman, M., & Yu, J. (2026) · Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy · doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2026.119466
Nishimura, T., Sakurai, K., Yonezawa, T., & Kikuchi, H. (2026) · ACS Omega · doi:10.1021/acsomega.6c01315
Evolutionary diversity of sphingolipid metabolism proteins in fungi
Płecha, M., Sokołowska, B., Barua, D., Bartczak, J., Sobczyk, M., Koperska, D., Kułakowska, A., Komosa, A., & Muszewska, A. (2026) · IMA Fungus · doi:10.3897/imafungus.17.177891
Murayama, H., Yakobov, N., Mahmoudi, N., Sasha, L., Fournier, N., Zuttion, S., Matsumoto, K., Nishimura, M., Ji, J., Senger, B., et al. (2026) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/s41467-026-73135-8
Synthesis and fungicidal activity of novel 1,1-diaryl-2-azolylethanols with a pyridine moiety
Chen, M., Yin, F., Hong, S., Liu, Y., Fu, B., Xiao, Y., Wu, X., & Qin, Z. (2026) · Molecular Diversity · doi:10.1007/s11030-026-11613-3
Five Questions About the Soil Microbiome
Jörgensen, R. G., Mueller, L., Behrendt, U., Thiele‐Bruhn, S., Scherber, C., Hamer, U., Römbke, J., Meyer, M., Churkina, G., Kunanbayev, K. K., et al. (2026) · Innovations in landscape research · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-09836-8_7
Liu, L., Mei, N., & Deng, Y. (2026) · Journal of the Iranian Chemical Society · doi:10.1007/s13738-026-03600-0
He, J., Wang, Q., Sun, B., Velkov, T., Shen, J., Jiang, H., & Dai, C. (2026) · ACS Omega · doi:10.1021/acsomega.6c05321
Orallo, D. E., Parise, A. R., Echarte, S. M., Iurlina, M. O., & Ramírez, C. L. (2026) · Studies in natural products chemistry · doi:10.1016/b978-0-443-51072-4.00016-8
Dao, N. D. H., Ha, L. T., Nguyễn, T. D., Nguyen, G. T.-T., Phan, N. U. P., Nguyen, N. N.-T., Thảo, V. T. M., Nguyen, K., Nguyen, H. M., Luân, L. Q., et al. (2026) · Food Bioscience · doi:10.1016/j.fbio.2026.110070
Coffman, K. R., Jitendra Kumar, A., Iversen, C. M., Kivlin, S. N., Walters, K., & Salmon, V. G. (2026) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-10855751/v1
Charres, I., Cipoli, Y. A., Vicente, E. D., Evtyugina, M. G., Aznar, F., Alfosea‐Simón, M., Soares, M., Oliveira, H., Kováts, N., Feliciano, M., et al. (2026) · Atmospheric Pollution Research · doi:10.1016/j.apr.2026.103223
Nakashima, T., Izuta, S., Kosaka, S., & Matsuo, H. (2026) · Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering · doi:10.1016/j.jbiosc.2026.09.008
Marín, J. C. G., Tabares-Villa, F. A., Zuluaga‐Vélez, A., Rojas-Estévez, P., Cala, M. P., Celis-Ramírez, A. M., & Arias, J. C. (2026) · ACS Omega · doi:10.1021/acsomega.6c09344
Metadata
- Authors
- Weete, J. D., Abril, M., & Blackwell, M.
- Affiliations
- Louisiana State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Blackwell, Meredith
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2010-05-28
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e10899
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC2878339
- OpenAlex
- W2043642851
- Cited by
- 316
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 25 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 25 · 2021: 22 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 28 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 4.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0732671)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Steroid Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Fungal and yeast genetics research
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Yeasts and Rust Fungi Studies
- Keywords
- fungal sterols, ergosterol, sterol biosynthesis, fungal phylogeny, cholesterol, brassicasterol, rust fungi, Glomeromycota, zoosporic fungi, azole antifungals
- MeSH terms
- Fungi, Phylogeny, Seawater, Sterols
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
