Surfactin analogues produced by Bacillus subtilis strains grown on rapeseed cake

Microbiologically produced surface acting compounds (biosurfactants) have very interesting properties with many potential industrial applications. Lipopeptides is a particularly promising group of biosurfactants in respect to the potentially huge number of various chemical structures. The chemical diversity results from fatty acid moiety (e.g. length, saturation, branching or hydroxylation) and type and sequence of the amino acids in the peptide chain. The limiting factor for the design and analysis of various lipopeptides is the ability of the targeted biosynthesis. Biosynthesis of particular lipopeptides may be potentially achieved by strain selection, culture conditions, or molecular engineering. The well-known lipopeptedes (surfactins, iturins, and fengycins) producer is B. subtilis. The aim of this study was to study targeted surfactin structural analogues biosynthesis in response to culture conditions in view of the design and production of tailor-made lipopeptides. Two B. subtilis strains (KB1 and #309) were tested for surfactin production. Both strains produced a mixture of five major surfactin analogues with the number of carbons in an alkyl chain ranging from 12 to 16. The two strains differed with respect to their oxygen demand for optimal surfactin biosynthesis' (lower oxygen demand for KB1). The amount of air influenced the relative ratios of surfactin analogues. Lower oxygen amount decreased the share of C15 analogues while it increased the share of C12 analogues. Thus, the biosynthesis of a desired surfactin analogue may controlled by both strain and culture conditions. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.