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. 2018 Oct 18;23(10):2675.
doi: 10.3390/molecules23102675.

Effects of Different Cultivation Parameters on the Production of Surfactin Variants by a Bacillus subtilis Strain

Attila Bartal  1   2 , Aruna Vigneshwari  3   4 , Bettina Bóka  5 , Mónika Vörös  6 , István Takács  7 , László Kredics  8 , László Manczinger  9 , Mónika Varga  10 , Csaba Vágvölgyi  11 , András Szekeres  12
Affiliations

Effects of Different Cultivation Parameters on the Production of Surfactin Variants by a Bacillus subtilis Strain

Attila Bartal et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Surfactins are lipopeptide-type biosurfactants produced mainly by Bacillus species, consisting of a peptide loop of seven amino acids and a hydrophobic fatty acid chain (C12⁻C16). These molecules have been proven to exhibit various biological activities; thus, their therapeutic and environmental applications are considered. Within the surfactin lipopeptide family, there is a wide spectrum of different homologues and isomers; to date, more than 30 variants have been described. Since the newest members of these lipopeptides were described recently, there is no information that is available on their characteristic features, e.g., the dependence of their production from different cultivation parameters. This study examined the effects of both the different carbon sources and various metal ions on the surfactin production of a selected B. subtilis strain. Among the applied carbon sources, fructose and xylose had the highest impacts on the ratio of the different variants, regarding both the peptide sequences and the lengths of the fatty acids. Furthermore, the application of metal ions Mn2+, Cu2+ and Ni2+ in the media completely changed the surfactin variant compositions of the fermenting broths leading to the appearance of methyl esterified surfactin forms, and resulted in the appearance of novel surfactin variants with fatty acid chains containing no more than 11 carbon atoms.

Keywords: Bacillus subtilis; HPLC-ESI-MS; cyclic lipopeptides; surfactin production.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The structure of the surfactin variant [Val2] described by Bóka et al. [18] (A) and [AME5] identified by Kecskeméti et al. [19] (B). R = C3H7–C5H11.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of relative area of distribution of the surfactin variant groups produced by B. subtilis in the original culture medium with the altered carbon sources. Significance levels of the differences from the control are marked with asterisks: *** p < 0.001; ** p < 0.01; * p < 0.05.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of the relative area distribution of B. subtilis surfactins, grouped by their fatty acid chain lengths in the original culture medium with the altered carbon sources. Significance levels of the differences from the control are marked with asterisks: *** p < 0.001; ** p < 0.01; * p < 0.05.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The MS2 spectrum of a peak at Rt = 76.89 min (m/z = 1016) of the fermenting broth of B. subtilis cultivated in culture medium supplemented with manganese.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comparison of relative area distribution of surfactin variants produced by B. subtilis in the original culture medium, and the media supplemented with manganese, copper, and nickel. Significance levels of the differences from the control are marked with asterisks.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Comparison of the relative area of distribution of fatty acid chain lengths of surfactins produced by B. subtilis in the original culture medium and in the media supplemented with manganese, copper, and nickel. Significance levels of the differences from the control are marked with asterisks: *** p < 0.001; ** p < 0.01; * p < 0.05.
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