Production and Purification of Biosurfactant from Marine Yeast Isolated from Kelambakkam Salterns

R. Muthezhilan^1*, R. Ragul¹, Angelin C Pushpam¹ and A. Jaffar Hussain²

¹Department of Marine Biotechnology, AMET University (U/S 3 of UGC Act 1956), Kanathur, Chennai 603112, India ²Centre for Marine Bioprospecting, AMET University (U/S 3 of UGC Act 1956), Kanathur, Chennai 603112, India.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/1392

ABSTRACT: The use of synthetic surfactants, derived from petroleum sources are usually toxic to the environment and soil living things. Nowadays, the research on biological surfactant production has grown significantly due to the advantages they present over synthetic compounds such as biodegradability, low toxicity and huge diversity. The biosurfactants are surface-active compounds from biological sources. In general, microbes especially yeast from extreme conditions like hypersaline environment are not fairly reported for biosurfactant production. Thus the present study was aimed to isolate the biosurfactant producing marine yeast from Kelambakkam Salterns, East Coast of Tamil Nadu, India. Morphologically 30 different Marine Yeast strains were isolated from saltern water and sediment samples using SGA, YMA, YPD and YM medium by spread plate and pour plate technique and they were named as AMBY101 to AMBY130. While screening all the marine yeast for biosurfactant production by Oil displacement Test using five different oils such as, Crude oil, Olive oil, Palm oil, Coconut oil and groundnut oil, the three strains namely AMBY109, AMBY117 and AMBY124 have showed a maximum activity and in all the tested oils. While checking the effect biosurfactant in crude oil degradation and emulsification assay using four different hydrocarbons (such as, waste motor lubricant oil, crude oil, diesel and kerosene), the strain AMBY109 have showed a maximum activity in all the experiments. The biosurfactants from the strain AMBY109 was extracted and purified. The purified biosurfactant was checked for antimicrobial activity and showed maximum zone. Further, based on the microscopic and morphological characteristics the marine yeast strain AMBY109 was identified

KEYWORDS: Marine Yeast; Rhodotorula sp; Biosurfactant; Crude oil degradation

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