ARS | Publication request: CHARACTERIZATION OF NEW YEAST LIPASES

Submitted to: Annual Meeting and Expo of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 14, 1997
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Lipase hydrolyzes fats and oils and synthesizes esters, including triglycerides. Recently, lipase has been used in the production of specialty chiral compounds. In our previous systematic lipase screening efforts, we screened over 1400 selected strains, including bacteria, yeasts and fungi from ARS Culture Collection or isolated from soil and water samples. We discovered many new lipase activities from strains not known previously to produce lipases. We classified these new lipases according to their tolerances against pH and temperatures. Now we have characterized 25 of these new yeast lipases on their positional specificity against triglycerides. Maximum production of lipase was achieved by growing cultures on nutrient medium in the presence of vegetable oil at 25 C for 4 days. Of the 25 new yeast lipases analyzed, 19 of them showed 1,3-positional specificity and six showed random specificity. There are no 2-positional specific lipases found. Among those tested, the following strains showed the best lipase activity: Candida silvicola CH-846 (random); Candida sp. CH-55 (random); Candida sp. CH-125 (random); Pichia americana CH-156 (1,3-specific); Pichia musicola CH-5 (random); Pichia petersanii CH-808 (1,3-specific); and Yarrowia lipolytica CH-423 (random).