Journal Article

Marine Biosurfactants: Biosynthesis, Structural Diversity and Biotechnological Applications

Katzke, Nadine, Loeschcke, Anita, Thies, Stephan, Bollinger, Alexander, Jaeger, Karl-Erich, Kubicki, Sonja

2019

Overview

Biosurfactants are amphiphilic secondary metabolites produced by microorganisms. Marine bacteria have recently emerged as a rich source for these natural products which exhibit surface-active properties, making them useful for diverse applications such as detergents, wetting and foaming agents, solubilisers, emulsifiers and dispersants. Although precise structural data are often lacking, the already available information deduced from biochemical analyses and genome sequences of marine microbes indicates a high structural diversity including a broad spectrum of fatty acid derivatives, lipoamino acids, lipopeptides and glycolipids. This review aims to summarise biosyntheses and structures with an emphasis on low molecular weight biosurfactants produced by marine microorganisms and describes various biotechnological applications with special emphasis on their role in the bioremediation of oil-contaminated environments. Furthermore, novel exploitation strategies are suggested in an attempt to extend the existing biosurfactant portfolio.

• Publisher: MDPI AG,MDPI
• Subject: Amino acids / aquatic bacteria / Aquatic Organisms - chemistry / Bacteria - chemistry / Biodegradation, Environmental - drug effects / Biological Products - chemistry / Bioremediation / Biosurfactants / Biosynthesis / biosynthetic mechanisms / biotechnological application / Biotechnology / Biotechnology - methods / Detergents / Dispersants / emulsifiers / Exploitation / Fatty acids / Foaming / Foaming agents / Gene sequencing / Genomes / Glucose / Glycolipids / heterologous expression / Lipids / Lipopeptides / Low molecular weights / marine biosurfactants / Marine microorganisms / Metabolites / Microorganisms / Molecular Structure / Molecular weight / Natural products / nucleotide sequences / oil degradation / Oil pollution / Petroleum Pollution / Proteins / Review / Secondary metabolites / structural diversity / surface active properties / Surface-Active Agents - chemistry / Surfactants / synthetic biology / Wetting