Author: Herr Dr. Amoneit
Last saved by: Saritas, Sevim
Company: 宮崎大学

Microbial Production of Biofuel from the Plant Biomass 
by the Pentose Assimilating Thraustochytrids
Hayashi, M.^1, Matsuda, A.^1, Taoka, Y.^1, Nagatomo, H.^1, Fujimoto, A.^1, 
Matsuda, T.^2, and Izumi, Y.^2,
 ^1Department of Marine Biology and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, 
University of Miyazaki, Miyazaki, JAPAN
^2Fukuoka Lab., Biomaterial in Tokyo Co., Ltd., Fukuoka, JAPAN
E-mail: hayash-m@cc.miyazaki-u.ac.jp 

     For a biofuel production from plant biomass, the novel pentose assimilating oleaginous thraustochytrids were isolated.  In the present study, the influence of culture conditions on the lipid profile and the growth of the strain and the microbial production of biofuel from the hydrolysate of rice straw were investigated.  
     As the pentose assimilating thraustochytrids, 22 strains were isolated from dead leaves of mangroves, coastal sea water, sea sand, and dead piece of coral collected at the coast and the seabed of Hiroshima prefecture and Ishigaki Island in Okinawa prefecture in Japan by a pine pollen bating method using the medium containing xylose or arabinose as a sole carbon source.  The fatty acid compositions and contents of many isolates were determined by GLC analysis after methanolysis of their total lipids.  The phylogenic analyses based on the 18S rRNA gene sequences were also carried out for an identification of the isolates.
These strains contained a large amount of fatty acids, such as n-3 docosahexaenoic (DHA) and n-6 docosapentaenoic (DPA) acids in the cells.  All of the strains were identified tentatively as Aurantiochytrium sp. by the phylogenic analysis based on the 18S rRNA gene sequences.  In the present study, the microbial production of biofuel from the hydrolysate of rice straw using 2L-jar fermenters was also investigated.