Physicochemical Properties of Biosurfactants Produced by Oil Destructor Microorganisms

The physicochemical properties and structure of biosurfactants produced by oil destructor microorganisms represented by three strains - Rhodococcus 108, Acinetobacter 112, Acinetobacter 114 - are investigated. It is shown that all these microorganisms are capable of synthesizing both cell-bound and extracellular biosurfactants. The amount of free biosurfactants produced by Rhodococcus 108 strain is higher than the amount produced by the bacteria belonging to Acinetobacter genus. All the studied compounds contain carbohydrate and lipid components. According to the data of IR spectroscopy, the biosurfactant isolated from the Rhodococcus 108 strain is a compound bearing long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons, ester bonds, carbonyl and OH groups, while lipopolysaccharide isolated from Acinetobacter 114 strain consists of a trisaccharide skeleton, to which the residues of fatty acids are added (C-10-C-22) via ester and amide bonds.