Production and modification of bioactive biosurfactants

The soil bacterium Tsukamurella spec. DSM 44370 produces a mixture of oligosaccharide lipids when cultivated on sunflower oil. In contrast cultivation with calendula oil as carbon source afforded a different product composition with overproduction of 2,3-di-O-acyl-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1–2)-β-d-galactopyranosyl-(1–6)-4,6-di-O-acyl-α-d-glucopyranosyl-(1–1)-α-d-glucopyranose (GL 3) that amounted to 60% of the whole product. GL 3 and its parent tetrahexose backbone G 3 were then modified enzymatically with the lipase Novozyme 435 from Candida antarctica by addition of one and two oleic acid molecules to GL 3 and four molecules to G 3. The new glycolipids were shown to exhibit interesting surface activities compared to commercially available products, decreasing the surface tension of water to 23 mN/m. In addition these products showed novel biological activities through the inhibition of the activation of Epstein-Barr virus early antigen.