Polyunsaturated fatty acids (Pufas) OF MUCOR sp. with special reference to gamma linolenic acid (GLA)

Abstract

Lipids are one of the main classes of macronutrients required for human newlinegrowth and nourishment. In order to obtain native isolate for GLA production, soil newlinesamples were collected from various habitats for screening the Mucor spp. in newlinenutrient rich medium. Based on the external morphology and microscopic newlineobservation Mucor spp. were isolated, compared with the standard cultures and newlinecomparisons were also made with the Gilman manual of soil fungi newlineThese isolates were screened for their oleagenicity both qualitatively and newlinequantitatively, staining with Sudan black-B and gravimetric method respectively. newlineAll the selected Mucor spp. and standard cultures were cultivated on submerged newlinefermentation to study the growth characteristics, lipid and GLA contents. The newlineresults indicated that the highest biomass, lipid and GLA content were observed in newlineM. rouxii CFR-G15. The presence of GLA in the lipid of this isolate was newlineconfirmed by the mass spectrometric method. newlineBy using gene specific primers, 18S rRNA and D6 DES genes were amplified newlineby PCR technique. Nucleotide sequences of 18S rRNA and D6 DES genes newlineexhibited 98% homology with M. rouxii ATCC 24905 (accession no.AF117923 newlineand AF296076) respectively, suggesting taxonomic identity. A nucleotide newlinesequences determined in this study was submitted to the GenBank and obtained newlinethe accession numbers EU927296 and EU526025 for 18SrRNA and D6 DES genes newlinerespectively. newlineCultivation conditions were selected for GLA production by optimizing newlineappropriate selection of both physical and chemical parameters such as pH, newlinetemperature, aeration, inoculum concentration, medium composition, carbon and newlinenitrogen sources, C:N ratio combination, different vegetable oils, and different newlineconcentration of minerals in growth media. It was concluded in this study that pH newline5.5, temperature at 28±2°C, glucose, yeast extract and ammonium nitrate as carbon newlineand nitrogen sources and C:N ratio of 60 produced maximum biomass