Most of the effects of water on cellular functions are closely related to the free energy of water in the cells which determines the water availability for life processes. Water potential is a fundamental concept now widely used in the biological and soil science for quantifying the energy of water in plants, micro-organisms, soil and other related systems (Papendick and Campbell, 1981). Water potential is an abbreviated expression for the 'potential energy of water'. By definition, water potential is the free energy of water in a system relative to the free energy of a reference pool of pure, free water having a specified mass or volume. Water activity (aw) is a measure of the availability in a substrate of water for microbial growth.

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Author Keywords:- keratinophyllic fungi, water stress, fungal growth

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e-ISSN: 2319-183X, p-ISSN: 2319-1821 Source Type: Journal Original Language: English
Document Type: Article Number of pages: 08

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