Mannosylerythritol Lipid Production from Oleaginous Yeast Cell Lysate by Moesziomyces aphidis

The chemical processing of microbial lipids instead of vegetable oil for products such as biofuels and food additives has been widely explored. In this study, a potential biotechnological application is reported in which oleaginous cell lysate derived from Cutaneotrichosporon oleaginosus is used as substrate to produce mannosylerythritol lipids (MELs) by Moesziomyces aphidis. The concentration of MELs using oleaginous cell lysate reached 2.3 g L-1 after six days while rapeseed oil yielded 23.4 g L-1. Hydrophobic substrates such as vegetable oil are believed to have an inducing effect on MEL production. Though oleaginous cell lysate comprises lipids that are structurally similar to vegetable oil, no significant induction of the MEL biosynthesis genes is shown compared to the use of glucose as substrate.