5-06: Screening of oleaginous fungi from oil-rich plants for biodiesel production

Oleaginous microorganisms can accumulate high levels of lipids (>20% of dry biomass) inside cells. Research on oleaginous microorganisms attracted more attention in recent years because the microbial oil can be used as feedstock for biodiesel production. Among these microorganisms, oleaginous fungi are of special interest for the advantages of fast growth on a variety of substrates (e.g., agricultural waste and lignocellulosic materials), easy harvest, high oil content and high resilience. One potential source of oleaginous fungi is endophytic fungi in oil-rich plants, which exposed under high-oil circumstance and can be a reservoir of oleaginous fungi.

Current studies of endophytic fungi in plants have not been done with the primary purpose of oil accumulation. This research is novel to isolate new oleaginous fungal strains from oil-rich plants such as soybean and canola and study their oil accumulation properties. Current results showed that of 33 fungal isolates screened from soybean grains, 13 fungal isolates had more than 20% lipid content. This obviously indicates that a great portion of the isolated fungal species has high oil content and oil-rich plants are a promising source for oleaginous fungi. Fungal strains were also screened from canola and sunflower. Lipid content, lipid profiles and the utilization of various carbon sources will be compared to evaluate their oil accumulation behavior.