CHARACTERIZATION OF EUCALYPT MYCORRHIZAS BY PYROLYSIS-GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY

Summary The chemotaxonomic potential of pyrolysis–gas chromatography is evaluated in relation to eucalypt mycorrhizas. The sensitivity of the technique permits good elution patterns to be obtained even from samples as small as single mycorrhizal apices. A simple quantitative measure of dissimilarity between such pyrograms, based on heirarchical analysis of peak heights, is described. Dissimilarity measures obtained from comparisons between defined materials are shown to be correlated with their degree of taxonomic affinity but experimental variability between replicate samples currently limits the comparative value of this method.