Ramkrishna Sen
Department of Biotechnology
Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur, West Bengal, India

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About this Book

Biosurfactants are surface active amphiphilic molecules derived either through the route of microbial fermentations or through the in-vitro enzyme catalyzed reactions. Like synthetic surfactants, biosurfactants are also characterized by their ability to reduce surface tension or interfacial tension between immiscible fluid phases and to form micelles and reverse micelles at the critical micelle concentrations. They constitute an important class of environment friendly biotechnology products with tremendous potential for commercial and health-care applications. Biosurfactants have been very popular for their biodegradability, non- or mild toxicity and also for their potential commercial applications as spreading, wetting, foaming and phase dispersing agents in various industries, such as in paint, cosmetics, textile, agrochemical, food and pharmaceutical industries and as emulsifying and demulsifying agents in mining and mineral processing, enhanced oil recovery and environmental bioremediation. They have also been credited with an impressive list of potential therapeutic and prophylactic implications. Mostly, these amphipathic molecules, by virtue of hydrophobic or hydrophilic interactions, exhibit membrane active properties and hence, have been reported to possess antifungal, antiviral, antimycoplasma, immunomodulatory and antitumor activities. However, their practical use as therapeutic drugs is to some extent limited by their hemolytic activity and cytotoxicity towards normal animal cell lines. Furthermore, the low yields and productivities of biosurfactants, especially in fermentative processes, have restricted their exploitation in commercial processes. The current market demand for cost competitive and environment friendly alternatives to synthetic surfactants—particularly when an impending petroleum crisis is looming large—and the huge commercial potentials of biosurfactant research have encouraged us to undertake the challenge of publishing this book on ‘Biosurfactants’. We endeavor to not only highlight the progress made by the scientific community in this field of research, but also to critically analyze the lacuna to improve the commercial prospects of these wonder biomolecules, by resorting to novel screening methods, metabolic pathway engineering, process development and application strategies.

Table of Contents

SECTION I. SCREENING, GENETICS AND BIOPHYSICS

1. Screening Concepts for the Isolation of Biosurfactant Producing Microorganisms
Vanessa Walter, Christoph Syldatk and Rudolf Hausmann

2. Molecular Genetics of Biosurfactant Synthesis in Microorganisms
Surekha K. Satpute, Smita S. Bhuyan, Karishma R. Pardesi, Shilpa S. Mujumdar, Prashant K. Dhakephalkar, Ashvini M. Shete and Balu A. Chopade

3. Interaction of Dirhamnolipid Biosurfactants with Phospholipid Membranes: A Molecular Level Study
Antonio Ortiz, Francisco J. Aranda and Jose A. Teruel

SECTION II. PROPERTIES AND POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS

4. Microbial Surfactants and Their Potential Applications: An Overview
Ashis K. Mukherjee and Kishore Das

5. Microbial Biosurfactants and Biodegradation
Owen P. Ward

6. Biomedical and therapeutic applications of biosurfactants
Lígia R. Rodrigues and José A. Teixeira

7. Microbial Surfactants of Marine Origin: Potentials and Prospects
Palashpriya Das, Soumen Mukherjee, C. Sivapathasekaran and Ramkrishna Sen

8. Biomimetic Amphiphiles: Properties and Potential Use
S.K. Mehta, Shweta Sharma, Neena Mehta and Swaranjit Singh Cameotra

9. Applications of Biological Surface Active Compounds in Remediation Technologies
Andrea Franzetti, Elena Tamburini and Ibrahim M. Banat

10. Possibilities and Challenges for Biosurfactants Use in Petroleum Industry
Amedea Perfumo, Ivo Rancich and Ibrahim M. Banat

11. Bacterial Biosurfactants, and Their Role in Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR)
J.M. Khire

SECTION III. BIOSURFACTANT PRODUCTION

12. Molecular Engineering Aspects for the Production of New and Modified Biosurfactants
Alexander Koglin, Volker Doetsch and Frank Bernhard

13. Rhamnolipid Surfactants: Alternative Substrates, New Strategies
Maria Benincasa, AnaMa Marqués, Aurora Pinazo and Angels Manresa

14. Selected Microbial Glycolipids: Production, Modification and Characterization
Olof Palme, Anja Moszyk, Dimitri Iphöfer and Siegmund Lang

15. Production of Microbial Biosurfactants by Solid‑State Cultivation
Nadia Krieger, Doumit Camilios Neto and David Alexander Mitchell

16. Rhamnolipid Biosurfactants: Production and their Potential in Environmental Biotechnology
Orathai Pornsunthorntawee, Panya Wongpanit and Ratana Rujiravanit

17. Biosurfactant’s Role in Bioremediation of NAPL and Fermentative Production
Sanket J. Joshi and Anjana J. Desai

18. Biosurfactants from Yeasts: Characteristics, Production and Application
Priscilla F.F. Amaral, Maria Alice Z. Coelho, Isabel M.J. Marrucho, and João A.P. Coutinho

19. Environmentally Friendly Biosurfactants Produced by Yeasts
Galba M. Campos‑Takaki, Leonie Asfora Sarubbo and Clarissa Daisy C. Albuquerque

20. Synthesis of Biosurfactants and Their Advantages to Microorganisms and Mankind
Swaranjit Singh Cameotra, Randhir S. Makkar, Jasminder Kaur and S.K. Mehta

21. Enrichment and Purification of Lipopeptide Biosurfactants
Simon C. Baker and Chien‑Yen Chen

22. Production of Surface Active Compounds 
by Biocatalyst Technology
Smita Sachin Zinjarde and Mahua Ghosh

SECTION IV. THE MOST STUDIED BIOSURFACTANTS

23. Structural and Molecular Characteristics 
of Lichenysin and Its Relationship
with Surface Activity
Anuradha S. Nerurkar

24. Surfactin: Biosynthesis, Genetics and Potential Applications
Ramkrishna Sen