Microbial Production of Long-chain Dicarboxylic Acids from n-Alkanes

Part I. Screening and Properties of Microorganisms Producing Dicarboxylic Acids

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Microorganisms which produced n-alkane ω, ω'-dicarboxylic acid (DC) from n-alkane were selected from natural sources. It was found that the best three producers thus obtained belonged to yeast. All of the stock cultures which are able to assimilate n-alkane and are belonged to genus Candida and Pichia were also found to produce DC from n-alkane.
Candida cloacae 310, a representative strain selected from natural source, was able to produce DCs having 5 to 16 carbon atoms from various n-alkanes. Among them, DCs with 5 to 9 carbon atoms were more heavily accumulated than those with more than 9, except those with the same number of carbon atoms as the substrates which were the main products from the substrates with less than 15 carbon atoms. It was also clearly demonstrated that DCs with odd carbons alone were produced from n-alkanes with odd carbons, while DCs with even carbons alone from n-alkanes with even carbons.
Then, cultural conditions of Candida cloacae 310 were studied for the production of DC-12 from n-dodecane (n-C₁₂) which showed the highest yield among the observed accumulation.
Under the optimum conditions, 2.28g/liter of DC-12 was obtained together with 1.86g/liter of DC-6 and 0.82g/liter of DC-8 after 72hr' cultivation in a synthetic medium containing 100ml of n-C₁₂ per liter.