Microbial biosurfactants production, applications and future potential

Abstract

Microorganisms synthesise a wide range of surface-active compounds (SAC), generally called biosurfactants. These compounds are mainly classified according to their molecular weight, physico-chemical properties and mode of action. The low-molecular-weight SACs or biosurfactants reduce the surface tension at the air/water interfaces and the interfacial tension at oil/water interfaces, whereas the high-molecular-weight SACs, also called bioemulsifiers, are more effective in stabilising oil-in-water emulsions. Biosurfactants are attracting much interest due to their potential advantages over their synthetic counterparts in many fields spanning environmental, food, biomedical, and other industrial applications. Their large-scale application and production, however, are currently limited by the high cost of production and by limited understanding of their interactions with cells and with the abiotic environment. In this paper, we review the current knowledge and the latest advances in biosurfactant applications and the biotechnological strategies being developed for improving production processes and future potential.

TTC- Based Test as an Efficient Method to Determine Antibiofilm Activity of Silver Nanoparticles

“…The synthesis of silver nanoparticles used microbiological method is the important part of nanobiotechnology, connecting the range of biotechnology research with nanotechnology. However, despite some reports, still many aspects of nanoparticles biosynthesis should be studied in detail It was observed that biosurfactants produced by microorganisms play very important role in aggregation and stabilization process [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. They adsorbed onto Ag-NPs surface stabilizing the nanoparticles and prevent their aggregation.…”

Antibacterial properties of sophorolipid-modified gold surfaces against Gram positive and Gram negative pathogens

“…The crystal used was a thin AT-cut gold-coated quartz provided by Q-Sense (Sweden) grafted with cysteamine as previously described for gold samples. Oscillations of the crystal at the resonant frequency (5 MHz) and its overtones (15,25,35,45,55 and 65 MHz) were obtained by applying AC voltage. The temperature was maintained at 22,0 ± 0,1°C.…”

Rhamnolipid Biosurfactants Produced by Pseudomonas Species

“…As well as microorganisms , carbon and nitrogen sources, optimization of the culture medium and conditions is the significant parameter to increase rhamnolipid yield. Additionally, according to Banat et al (2010), recombinant and mutant producer strains may give high yields of biosurfactants and can be an important step to their economical production.…”