Production and structural characterization of surfactin (C14/Leu7) produced by Bacillus subtilis isolate LSFM-05 grown on raw glycerol from the biodiesel industry

• Published in: Process biochemistry (1991) Vol. 46; no. 10; pp. 1951 - 1957
• Main Authors: de Faria, Andreia Fonseca, Teodoro-Martinez, Diego Stéfani, de Oliveira Barbosa, Geraldo Nazareno, Gontijo Vaz, Boniek, Serrano Silva, Ísis, Garcia, Jerusa Simone, Tótola, Marcos Rogério, Eberlin, Marcos N., Grossman, Matthew, Alves, Oswaldo Luiz, Regina Durrant, Lucia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-10-2011
• Subjects: amino acid sequences; B. subtilis; Bacillus subtilis; Biodiesel; Biosurfactant; biosurfactants; carbon; chromatography; electrospray ionization mass spectrometry; emulsifying; fatty acids; fermenters; foams; glycerol; industry; infrared spectroscopy; Mass spectrometry; micelles; nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy; petroleum; Raw glycerol; silica gel; stable isotopes; Surfactin; vegetable oil; Brazil; B. subtilis; Biosurfactant; Surfactin; Biodiesel; Mass spectrometry; Raw glycerol
• ISSN: 1359-5113; 1873-3298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.procbio.2011.07.001

The production of biosurfactant by Bacillus subtilis LSFM-05 was carried out using raw glycerol, obtained from a vegetable oil biodiesel plant in Brazil, as the sole carbon source. Production of the biosurfactant was carried out in a 15-L bench-top fermentor and the surfactant was obtained from the foam produced. The crude surfactant was purified by silica gel column chromatography with a yield of 230mg of the purified biosurfactant per liter of foam. TLC, IR spectroscopy, 1H and 13C NMR and Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization (ESI-FTMS) were used to characterize the purified surfactant. The isolated surfactant was identified as a surfactin lipopeptide. MS/MS data identified the amino acid sequence as GluOMe-Leu-Leu-Asp-Val-Leu-Leu and showed that the fatty acid moiety contained 14 carbons in iso, anteiso or normal configurations. The critical micelle concentration of the C14/Leu7 surfactin was 70μM, with emulsification efficiency after 24h (E24) of 67.6% against crude oil. Raw glycerol represents an abundant and renewable carbon source and provides an opportunity for reducing the cost of biosurfactant production and may add value to biodiesel production by creating new commercial applications for this by-product.