Author
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Kuo, Tsung Min |
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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/2003 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: Our research objective is to produce new value-added industrial products from soybean oil and its component fatty acids by microbial or enzymatic catalysis. We previously searched for reactive microbial strains from either the ARS Culture Collection or from soil and water samples collected in various geographic locations. Recently, we focused on using fatty acids (FAs) in enrichment-culture procedures manipulated in the laboratory to select microbes from composted materials. When oleic acid or 10-ketostearic acid (10-KSA) was the selective FA in the bacterial enrichments, isolates that produced either hydroxystearic acid (HSA), KSA or incomplete decarboxylations were identified as Sphingobacterium thalpophilum, Acinetobacter spp., and Enterobacter cloacae. In addition, the oleate-selective medium also yielded Bacillus cereus that converted oleic acid to octadecenamide and isolates of Acinetobacter and coryneform that produced oleyl wax esters. When linoleic acid was the selective FA, various Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, and Serratia spp. appeared to decarboxylate linoleate incompletely. When ricinoleic acid was the selective FA, isolates of E. cloacae and Escherichia sp. produced C12 and C14 homologous compounds, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa produced a novel new 7,10,12-trihydroxy-8(E)-octadecenoic acid (TOD) from ricinoleic acid. TOD was found to be an antifungal agent most effective against the species causing the rice blast disease. Strains of P. aeruginosa isolated from compost and other strains available in the ARS Culture Collection exhibited different levels of activity in the production of TOD. The results demonstrate that compost is a rich source of biocatalytic bacteria for degradation and various conversions of unsaturated FAs. |