Rhamnolipids from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain

Increased removal of phenanthrene from soil columns spiked with the rhamnolipid mixture synthesized by Pseudomonas aeruginosa UG2 has been demonstrated, and shown to depend both on the increased desorption of the substrate and on partitioning into micelles (Noordman et al. 1998). However, the addition of the biosurfactant from the same strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa UG2 or of sodium dodecyl sulfate had no effect on the rate of biodegradation of anthracene and phenanthrene from a chronically contaminated soil. 

Of the cell-free supernatants of strains grown on frying oils, those of P. aeruginosa 47T2 and of eight other Pseudomonas strains showed surface tension values from 32 to 36mN/m [32]. An emulsion with kerosene remained stable for three months. Abalos and co-workers [33] cultured P. aeruginosa ATIO in a mineral salts medium with 5% of waste-free fatty acids in a food-oil refinery. The final production of rhamnolipids was 9.5 g/1 after 96 hours. The surface tension of the supernatant reached 28 mN/m at this time. 

---