Lipid accumulation by Rhodococcus rhodochrous grown on glucose

Abstract

Biodiesel is an alternative fuel made from costly vegetable oil feedstocks. Some microorganisms can accumulate lipids when nutrients are limited and carbon is in excess. Rhodococcus rhodochrous is a gram-positive bacterium most often used in bioremediation or acrylamide production. The purpose of this study was to investigate and characterize the lipid accumulation capabilities of R. rhodochrous. Shake flasks and a large-scale fermentation were used to cultivate R. rhodochrous in varying concentrations of glucose. R. rhodochrous achieved almost 50 % of dry cell mass as lipid when grown in 20 g/L of glucose. Wax esters and triglycerides were identified in R. rhodochrous lipid extract. The transesterified extractables of R. rhodochrous consisted of mostly palmitic (35 %) and oleic (42 %) acid methyl esters. This study shows R. rhodochrous to be an oleaginous bacterium with potential for application in alternative fuels.