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Fruit residues as substrates for single-cell oil production by Rhodococcus species: physiology and genomics of carbohydrate catabolism

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Abstract

Strains belonging to R. opacus, R. jostii, R. fascians, R. erythropolis and R. equi exhibited differential ability to grow and produce lipids from fruit residues (grape marc and apple pomace), as well as single carbohydrates, such as glucose, gluconate, fructose and sucrose. The oleaginous species, R. opacus (strains PD630 and MR22) and R. jostii RHA1, produced higher yields of biomass (5.1–5.6 g L−1) and lipids (38–44% of CDW) from apple juice wastes, in comparison to R. erythropolis DSM43060, R. fascians F7 and R. equi ATCC6939 (4.1–4.3 g L−1 and less than 10% CDW of lipids). The production of cellular biomass and lipids were also higher in R. opacus and R. jostii (6.8–7.2 g L−1 and 33.9–36.5% of CDW of lipids) compared to R. erythropolis, R. fascians, and R. equi (3.0–3.6 g L−1 and less than 10% CDW of lipids), during cultivation of cells on wine grape waste. A genome-wide bioinformatic analysis of rhodococci indicated that oleaginous species possess a complete set of genes/proteins necessary for the efficient utilization of carbohydrates, whereas genomes from non-oleaginous rhodococcal strains lack relevant genes coding for transporters and/or enzymes for the uptake, catabolism and assimilation of carbohydrates, such as gntP, glcP, edd, eda, among others. Results of this study highlight the potential use of the oleaginous rhodococcal species to convert sugar-rich agro-industrial wastes, such as apple pomace and grape marc, into single-cell oils.

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Data availability

The datasets analysed during the current study are available in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) website (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/), and in the case of R. fascians F7 from Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology (RAST) server, available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The companies “Jugos S.A.” and “Fruto de los Lagos” are gratefully acknowledged for providing the apple and grape waste, respectively.

Funding

This work was funded by Project PICT2020-Serie A 02215, PUE2018-INBIOP 0033-CONICET, and SCyT of the University of Patagonia San Juan Bosco. Alvarez HM is a career researcher of the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Argentina.

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  1. Instituto de Biociencias de la Patagonia (INBIOP), Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia San Juan Bosco y CONICET, Km 4-Ciudad Universitaria, 9000, Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut, Argentina

    O. Marisa Herrero & Héctor M. Alvarez

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O.M.H. made acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data, participated in the design of the work, and in the preparation of the main manuscript text, figures and tables. H.M.A. participated in the conception and design of the work, in the writing, review and editing of the manuscript, and in the funding acquisition. All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Herrero, O.M., Alvarez, H.M. Fruit residues as substrates for single-cell oil production by Rhodococcus species: physiology and genomics of carbohydrate catabolism. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 40, 61 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-023-03866-z

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