Extracellular Accumulation of Mannosylerythritol Lipids by a Strain ofCandida antarctica

Abstract

A yeast strain, isolated from the exudate of a tree, accumulated biosurfactants abundantly when grown on soybean oil as the sole carbon source. The biosurfactants were found to be a mixture of 4 mannosylerythritol lipids, including two new mannosylerythritol lipids as major components. The major components, which amounted to about 80% of the total lipids, were determined to be 4-O-(di-O-acetyl-di-O-alkanoyl-β-d-mannopyranosyl)-erythritol and 4-O-(mono-O-acetyl-di-O-alkanoyl-β-d-mannopyranosyl)-erythritol. The yeast strain was identified as Candida antarctica (Goto et al.) Kurtzman et al.