Author
Kuo, Tsung Min | |
Manthey, Linda | |
Hou, Ching |
Submitted to: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 1/22/1998 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Vegetable oils represent attractive renewable resources for the production of useful chemicals. We are investigating microbial conversion of vegetable oils and their component fatty acids to value-added products. In this study, we further refined and improved the production of value-added chemicals from soybean oil components by a microbial strain Pseudomonas sp. PR3. We also discovered that the microorganism converted castor oil fatty acid to a new value-added oxygen containing product. This product has the potential to be developed by industry as an antifungal agent for controlling rice blast disease. Technical Abstract: The bioconversions of oleic acid, linoleic acid, and ricinoleic acid by Pseudomonas aeruginosa PR3 were investigated. The conversion of oleic acid to 7,10-dihydroxy-8(E)-octadecenoic acid (DOD) was improved with greater than 80% yields by modifying the culture medium and reaction parameters. The microbial cultures were stable and retained the same level of DOD production capacity for up to six months as examined herewith. Strain PR3 did not bioconvert linoleic acid. However, strain PR3 converted ricinoleic acid to a novel compound, 7,10,12-trihydroxy-8(E) octadecenoic acid (TOD), with a yield of about 35%. The product was further metabolized by strain PR3. TOD was purified by thin layer chromatography, and its structure was determined by 1H- and **13C-nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy. This is the first report on the production of 7,10,12-trihydroxy unsaturated fatty acid by microbial transformation. |