ISSN 2736-1756
Advanced Journal of Microbiology Research Vol. 2005
Available online at http://internationalscholarsjournals.org/journal/ajmr
© 2005 International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Production of bioemulsifier by an unusual isolate of salmon/red melanin containing Rhodotorula glutinis
Oloke J. K.1* and Glick B. R.2
1Department of Pure and Applied Biology, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.
2Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Accepted 11 January, 2005
Abstract
An unusual isolate of Rhodotorula glutinis was obtained. The yeast produces a spore and a crystalliferous protein per cell. Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that the parasporal crystals contained polypeptides with a molecular mass of approximately 55, 47, 40, 36 32.5, 30 and 25 kD. The yeast also produces a salmon/red pigment at late stage of exponential growth, which has physical and chemical properties that are consistent with it being a form of melanin. The organism has been used to produce bioemulsifier with emulsion index of 80% when tested against kerosene and crude oil. The bioemulsifier has been shown to be capable of eliminating about 76% of crude oil pollutant. The colonial and mycelia forms of Rhodosporidium toruloides and Rhodosporidium sphaerocarpum have been successfully isolated from the unusual organism.
Key words: Bioemulsifier, rhodotorula glutinis, teleomorph, Rhodosporidium toruloides.