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Screening and Characterization of Next-Generation Biofuels Producing Bacterial Strains

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Abstract

Production of fuels from renewable resources is of utmost importance due to fast depletion of fossil resources and related environmental issues. The present study explored the intrinsic capability of microbial strains to produce alka(e)nes, the next-generation biofuel, thus to reduce the dependence upon current petroleum fuels. Eight bacterial strains, namely, SDK-1, SDK-2, SDK-6, SDK-7, SDK-8, SDK-9, SDK-10, and SDK-11 were isolated from sludge and soil samples collected from different sources using lauric acid as a substrate with a potential to produce alka(e)nes. Production of different medium- and long-chain alka(e)nes by these isolates was confirmed via gas chromatography–mass spectrometer (GC–MS) analysis. SDK-1 (7.2%), SDK-2 (3.72%), and SDK-6 (3.52%) produced significant proportion of medium-chain hydrocarbons as compared to SDK-10 and control with no production. These isolates may be further investigated for production of these alternative sources of energy. In contrary, maximum fraction of long-chain hydrocarbons is produced in SDK-8 (75.28%) followed by SDK-9 (61.51%). Similarly more than 50% of the total hydrocarbons produced in SDK-8 constitute fossil mimic hydrocarbons while only 10.78% fractions were found in SDK-10. Since these fractions resemble different hydrocarbons obtained from crude oil, hence may be explored for their wide applications in different fields. Biochemical characterization and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed the homology of SDK-1, SDK-2 and SDK-6 with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, SDK-7 and SDK-9 with Enterobacter cloacae, SDK-8 with Klebsiella pnuemoniae, SDK-10 with Enterobacter hormaechei and SDK-11 with Pseudomonas nitroreducens, respectively.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Mata Gujri College, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, 140406, India

    Damanjeet Kaur & Saurabh Gupta

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab, India

    Damanjeet Kaur

  3. Department of Food Processing Technology, Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University, Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, India

    Rupinder Pal Singh

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  1. Damanjeet Kaur
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Contributions

Research work has been executed by Ms. Damanjeet Kaur along with drafting of manuscript. Manuscript refining and re-framing of the revised manuscript has been performed by Dr. Rupinder Pal Singh. Conception of the the idea, design of the experimental methodology and work along with manuscript refining have been carried out by Dr. Saurabh Gupta.

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Correspondence to Saurabh Gupta.

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Kaur, D., Singh, R.P. & Gupta, S. Screening and Characterization of Next-Generation Biofuels Producing Bacterial Strains. Curr Microbiol 79, 85 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-022-02781-0

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