• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1229-1243
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• 2013

In this paper, an air isolate (NITT6L) has been screened based on hemolytic activity, emulsification activity, drop collapsing test, and oil displacement test, as well as lipase activity. It was found that strain NITT6L was able to reduce the surface tension of the medium from 61.5 to 39.83 mN/m and could form stable emulsions with tested vegetable oils. Morphological, biochemical, 16S rRNA sequencing analyses, and fatty acid methyl ester analysis using gas chromatography confirmed that the air isolate under study was Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Characterization of the biosurfactant using agar double diffusion assay revealed that the biosurfactant was anionic in nature, and CTAB-methylene blue assay and Molisch test revealed its glycolipid nature. The FT-IR spectrum confirmed that the crude biosurfactant was a rhamnolipid. Using unoptimized medium containing sucrose as the carbon source, the isolate was found to produce 0.3 mg/ml of rhamnolipid in batch cultivation (shake flask) at $37^{\circ}C$ and pH 7. Optimization of the medium components was carried out using design of experiments and the yield of rhamnolipid has been enhanced to 4.6 mg/ml in 72 h of fermentation.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.737-741
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• 1999

Phenanthrene degrading bacteria were isolated from the petroleum contaminated soil near an oil tank. Four of 15 strains decreased surface tension of culture broth of phenanthrene-containing minimal media. H6, one of the isolated bacteria decreased surface tension of culture broth below 33 dyne/cm during growth on glucose. H6 was identified as Bacillus subtilis and biosurfactant produced by H6 was lipopeptide. The biosurfactant was produced at 0.13 g/L in the mineral medium containing 2% glucose. Critical micelle concentration(CMC) of the biosurfactant was 52 mg/L. Foaming power was similar to Tween 80 and dispersing power was superior to Tween 80m SDS and Brij30. High thermal stability and emulsion index were also observed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.390-396
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• 2013

Biosurfactants have versatile properties and potential industrial applications. A new producer, B. subtilis TU2, was isolated from the underground oil-extraction wastewater of Shengli Oilfield, China. Preliminary flask culture showed that the titer of biosurfactant obtained from the broth of TU2 was ~1.5 g/l at 48 h (718 mg/l after purification), with a reduced surface tension of 32.5 mN/m. The critical micelle concentration was measured as 50 mg/l and the surface tension maintained stability in solution with 50 g/l NaCl and 16 g/l $CaCl_2$ after 5 days of incubation at $70^{\circ}C$. FT-IR spectra exhibited the structure information of both glycolipid and lipopeptide. MALDI-TOF-MS analyses confirmed that the biosurfactant produced by B. subtilis TU2 was a blend of glycolipid and lipopeptide, including rhamnolipid, surfactin, and fengycin. The blended biosurfactant showed 86% of oil-washing efficiency and fine emulsification activity on crude oil, suggesting its potential application in enhanced oil recovery.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.313-319
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• 2007

The nutritional medium requirement for biosurfactant production by Bacillus licheniformis K51 was optimized. The important medium components, identified by the initial screening method of Plackett-Burman, were $H_3PO_4,\;CaCl_2,H_3BO_3$, and Na-EDTA. Box-Behnken response surface methodology was applied to further optimize biosurfactant production. The optimal concentrations for higher production of biosurfactants were (g/l): glucose, $1.1;NaNO_3,\;4.4;MgSO_4{\cdot}7H_2O,\;0.8;KCl,\;0.4;CaCl_2,\;0.27;H_3PO_4,\;1.0ml/l;\;and\;trace elements\;(mg/l):H_3BO_3,\;0.25;CuSO_4,\;0.6;MnSO_4,\;2.2;Na_{2}MoO_4,\;0.5;ZnSO_4,\;6.0;FeSO_4,\;8.0;CoCL_2,\;1.0;$ and Na-EDTA, 30.0. Using this statistical optimization method, the relative biosurfactant yield as critical micelle dilution (CMD) was increased from $10{\times}\;to\;105{\times}$, which is ten times higher than the non-optimized rich medium.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2012

The effect of a rhamnolipid biosurfactant produced by a Pseudomonas aeruginosa MA01 strain on desulfurization of iron concentrates was studied. Surface tension measurement and frothing characterization indicated better surface activity and frothability of rhamnolipid compared to methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC) as an operating frother. Reverse flotation tests using rhamnolipid either as a sole frother or mixed with MIBC, showed that the desulfurization process is more efficient at pH 4.5 and high concentration of rhamnolipid in the presence of MIBC. However, under these conditions water recovery decreased due to the change in rhamnolipid aggregates morphology. Results from the present study seemed promising to introduce the biosurfactant from Pseudomonas aeruginosa as a new frother.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.531-534
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• 2023

We report the draft genome sequence of the yeast strain Hormonema macrosporum POB-4, capable of producing the biosurfactant glycocholic acid, one of the bile acids. A majority of genes with known function were associated with metabolism and transport of amino acid and carbohydrate as well as secondary metabolites biosynthesis, transport, and catabolism. We observed genes of eleven C-N hydrolases and two CoA transferases which have been reported to be involved in the biosynthesis of glycocholic acid. Further experimental studies can help to elucidate the specific genes responsible for biosurfactant production in strain POB-4.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 2018

Biosurfactants or microbial surfactants are surface-active biomolecules that are produced by a variety of microorganisms. Biodegradability and low toxicity have led to the intensification of scientific studies on a wide range of industrial applications for biosurfactants in the field of environmental bioremediation as well as the petroleum industry and enhanced oil recovery. However, the major issues in biosurfactant production are high production cost and low yield. Improving the bioindustrial production processes relies on many strategies, such as the use of cheap raw materials, the optimization of medium-culture conditions, and selecting hyperproducing strains. The present work aims to obtain a mutant with higher biosurfactant production through applying mutagenesis on Bacillus subtilis SPB1 using a combination of UV irradiation and nitrous acid treatment. Following mutagenesis and screening on blood agar and subsequent formation of halos, the mutated strains were examined for emulsifying activity of their culture broth. A mutant designated B. subtilis M2 was selected as it produced biosurfactant at twice higher concentration than the parent strain. The potential of this biosurfactant for industrial uses was shown by studying its stability to environmental stresses such as pH and temperature and its applicability in the oil recovery process. It was practically stable at high temperature and at a wide range of pH, and it recovered above 90% of motor oil adsorbed to a sand sample.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.219-225
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• 2011

The objective of this study was to investigate the bacterial adhesion to iron (hydr)oxide-coated sand (IHCS) and aluminum oxidecoated sand (AOCS) in the presence of Tween 20 (nonionic surfactant) and lipopeptide biosurfactant (anionic surfactant) through column experiments. Results show that in the presence of Tween 20, bacterial adhesion to the coated sands was slightly decreased compared to the condition of deionized water; the mass recovery (Mr) increased from 0.491 to 0.550 in IHCS and from 0.279 to 0.380 in AOCS. The bacterial adhesion to the coated sands was greatly reduced in lipopeptide biosurfactant; Mr increased to 0.980 in IHCS and to 0.797 in AOCS. Results indicate that the impact of lipopeptide biosurfactant on bacterial adhesion to metal oxide-coated sands was significantly greater than that of Tween 20. Our results differed from those of the previous report, showing that Tween 20 was the most effective while the biosurfactant was the least effective in the reduction of bacterial adhesion to porous media. This discrepancy could be ascribed to the different surface charges of porous media used in the experiments. This study indicates that lipopeptide biosurfactant can play an important role in enhancing the bacterial transport in geochemically heterogeneous porous media.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.153-158
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• 2011

Optimal culture conditions were characterized for production of crude biosurfactant of Bacillus subtilis JK-1. During incubation of B. subtilis JK-1, the bacterial growth pattern, changes of the surface tension at variable temperatures, pH and NaCl concentrations in bacterial culture medium were studied. The strain was able to grow and produce biosurfactant at $15-45^{\circ}C$, in the pH range of 6-10, and at 0-10% (w/v) NaCl. In case, culture broth pH was gradually changed to neutral or weak alkaline. Optimal culture conditions for crude biosurfactant production were at $35^{\circ}C$ and pH 7.0 after 48 h incubation and the surface tension of biosurfactant was 24.0 mN/m. Besides, as the concentration of NaCl was increased from 0 to 10% (w/v), the growth was decreased, pH of the culture broth was converted from weak alkaline to acidic, and the surface tension rised.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.651-665
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• 2020

Hydrolysis of biomass for the production of fermentable sugar can be improved by the addition of surfactants. In pulp and paper mills, lignin, which is a by-product of the pulping process, can be utilized as a fine chemical. In the hydrolysis process, lignin is one of the major inhibitors of the enzymatic breakdown cellulose into sugar monomer. Therefore, the conversion of lignin into a biosurfactant offers the opportunity to solve the waste problem and improve hydrolysis efficiency. In this study, lignin derivatives, a biosurfactant, was applied to enzymatic hydrolysis of various lignocellulosic biomass. This Biosurfactant can be prepared by reacting lignin with a hydrophilic polymer such as polyethylene glycol diglycidylethers (PEDGE). In this study, the effect of biosurfactants on the enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated sweet sorghum bagasse (SSB), oil palm empty fruit bunch, and sugarcane trash with different lignin contents was investigated. The results show that lignin derivatives improve the enzymatic hydrolysis of the pretreated biomass with low lignin content, however, it has less influence on the enzymatic hydrolysis of other pretreated biomass with lignin content higher than 10% (w/w). The use of biosurfactant on SSB kraft pulp can increase the sugar yield from 45.57% to 81.49%.