Isolation of the Oleaginous Yeasts from the Soil and Studies of Their Lipid-Producing Capacities
Li-Xia Pan1,2, Deng-Feng Yang2, Li Shao1, Wei Li1, Gui-Guang Chen1 and Zhi-Qun Liang1*
1College of Life Science and Technology, Guangxi University, CN-530004 Nanning, PR China
2Guangxi Academy of Sciences, CN-530003 Nanning, PR China
Article history:
Received January 12, 2008
Accepted May 7, 2008
Key words:
isolation and identification of oleaginous yeast, xylose, glycerol, biodiesel, cocoa butter substitute
Summary:
D-xylose is one of the most abundant pentose sugars in nature. To isolate oleaginous yeasts that can utilize xylose from diverse soil samples, soils from a litchi orchard, longan orchard, carambola orchard, and woods were collected, yeasts were isolated by the glycerol enrichment and their xylose-assimilating capacities were measured. A subset of these isolates was grown in nitrogen-limited media and then screened for potential oleaginous yeasts by the Sudan Black B staining, after which their lipid-producing capacities were studied. There were 13 strains of oleaginous yeasts identified, and a rapid microbiological assay was provided to exploit microbial lipids that may one day be used as biodiesels or cocoa butter substitute.
*Corresponding author: 
zqliang@gxu.edu.cn
++86 771 3270 733
++86 771 3271 181
