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Selective Microbial Degradation of Saturated Methyl Branched-Chain Fatty Acid Isomers

  • Original Paper
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Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society

Abstract

Three strains of Pseudomonas (P.) bacteria were screened for their capabilities of degrading chemically synthesized saturated branched-chain fatty acids (sbc–FA). Mixtures of sbc–FA with the methyl-branch located at various locales along the fatty acid were used as a carbon feedstock in shake-flask culture. Utilization (and hence degradability) of the sbc–FA was monitored based on positive bacterial growth, fatty acid recovery rates and chromatographic (gas chromatography (GC) and GC-mass spectroscopy (MS)) analysis of the recovered carbon source. P. putida KT2442 and P. oleovorans NRRL B-14683 were both able to grow on sbc–FA utilizing 35 wt% and 27 wt% of the carbon source, respectively after 144 h. In contrast, P. resinovorans NRRL B-2649 exhibited the most efficient use of the carbon source by utilizing 89 % of the starting material after 96 h resulting in a cell dry weight (CDW) of 3.1 g/L. GC and GC–MS analysis of the recovered carbon source revealed that the bacterial strains selectively utilized the isostearic acid in the sbc–FA mixture, and a new group of C10, C12, C14 and C16-linear and/or branched-chain fatty acids (approximately 4–29 wt%) were formed during degradation.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. Kerby Jones for help on the analytical procedures used in this study. We thank Mr. Bun Hung Lai and Ms. Heather Vanselous for experimental help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, 600 E. Mermaid Lane, Wyndmoor, PA, 19038, USA

    Helen L. Ngo, Richard D. Ashby & Alberto Nuñez

Authors
  1. Helen L. Ngo
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  2. Richard D. Ashby
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  3. Alberto Nuñez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helen L. Ngo.

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H. L. Ngo and R. D. Ashby contributed equally to this work.

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Ngo, H.L., Ashby, R.D. & Nuñez, A. Selective Microbial Degradation of Saturated Methyl Branched-Chain Fatty Acid Isomers. J Am Oil Chem Soc 89, 1885–1893 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-012-2092-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11746-012-2092-0

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