What is the detection limit for PLFA analysis?
- Date added:
- Thursday, 05 February 2009
Answer
The limit of detection for PLFA analysis is ~50 picomoles of total PLFA and the limit of quantitation is ~150 picomoles of total PLFA (or ~10e3 cells/mL). Samples which contain PLFA amounts at or below 50 pmol cannot be used to determine biomass, likewise samples with PLFA content below ~150 pmol are generally considered to contain too few fatty acids to produce meaningful community composition data.
