Fatty-acid metabolism of mannosylerythritol lipids as biosurfactants produced by Candida antarctica: incorporation of medium-chain fatty acids as β-oxidation intermediates into glycolipid

The fatty acid metabolism of extracellular glycolipids, mannosylerythritol lipids produced by the yeast Candida antarctica T-34 and used as biosurfactants, was examined using individual fatty compounds of various chain lengths (from C 12 to C 18 ) as the sole source of carbon. The fatty acids in the glycolipids in all cases consisted of medium-chain fatty acids such as C 8 , C 10 and C 12 acids for even-numbered substrates and C 7 . C 9 and C 11 acids for odd-numbered substrates. trans-3 and cis-4 decenoic acids were the major components found on using methyl linoleate. The fatty-acid compositions of triacylglycerols, major cellular lipids in yeast, significantly depended on substrate chain length..