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Biosurfactant Production by Antarctic Facultative Anaerobe Pantoea sp. During Growth on Hydrocarbons

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Abstract

The facultative anaerobe Pantoea sp. strain A-13, isolated from ornithogenic soil of Dewart Island (Frazier Islands), Antarctica, produced glycolipid biosurfactants when grown on n-paraffins or kerosene as the sole source of carbon and energy. Hemolysis of erythrocytes, growth inhibition of Bacillus subtilis, and thin-layer chromatography studies have suggested that the secreted glycolipids are rhamnolipids. Glycolipids produced by kerosene-grown cells decreased the surface tension at the air–water interface to 30 mN/m and possessed a low critical micelle concentration value of 40 mg/l, which indicated high surface activity. They efficiently emulsified aromatic hydrocarbons, kerosene, and n-paraffins. Biosurfactant production contributed to an increase in cell hydrophobicity, which correlated with increased growth of the strain on tested hydrocarbons. According to the results, the Antarctic biosurfactant-producing strain Pantoea sp. A-13 appears to be valuable source for application in accelerated environmental bioremediation.

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  1. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, The Stephan Angeloff Institute of Microbiology, Acad. G. Bonchev str., bl.26, 1113, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Evgenia Vasileva-Tonkova & Victoria Gesheva

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  1. Evgenia Vasileva-Tonkova
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  2. Victoria Gesheva
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Correspondence to Evgenia Vasileva-Tonkova.

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Vasileva-Tonkova, E., Gesheva, V. Biosurfactant Production by Antarctic Facultative Anaerobe Pantoea sp. During Growth on Hydrocarbons. Curr Microbiol 54, 136–141 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-006-0345-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-006-0345-6

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