Isolation and characterization of an effective biofuel producing oleaginous Cutaneotrichosporon curvatum BRV096

Abstract

Globally, demand for the fuels is increasing day by day leading to the depletion of fuel resources and increase in the fuel prices. Need for an alternative cost effective and eco- friendly fuel has become the first priority. In this scenario, oleaginous microbes were introduced which have a remarkable ability to accumulate lipids when compared to the plant sources. Among all the oleaginous microbes, yeast is proven to be showing high lipid accumulation i.e. up to 60% of its total cell weight. In the current research work, potent high lipid accumulating yeast was isolated from the soil samples collected from the municipal dump yard. Out of the 96 microbial isolates, 12 potent strains were screened which were further purified and stored in refrigerator at 4oC. Among all the microbial strains, BRV096 showed high dry cell weight and lipid accumulation (52±2.8 g/L and 23±2.9 ml/L) followed by BRV007 (48±2.7 g/L and 18±3.8 ml/L). BRV096 was studied morphologically by using Scanning electron microscope which revealed the structure as oval. Budding cells are typical characteristics of the yeast. 18 S rRNA sequencing was carried out and the obtained DNA sequence data was searched in BLASTn which showed 99.9% similarity with Cutaneotrichosporon curvatum. With a motto to assess the fatty acid methyl esters composition, FAME analysis was carried out which revealed the composition as palmitoleic acid (C16:1, 71.16%), oleic acid (C18:1, 17.26%) and eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5, 11.58%). The fatty acids methyl esters profile produced by Cutaneotrichosporon curvatum BRV096 showed similarity with the biodiesel profile. Current research results states that Cutaneotrichosporon curvatum BRV096 can be effectively used in the production of biodiesel.