Abstract: The present invention provides a method for extracting lipids from microorganisms without using organic solvent as an extraction solvent. In particular, the present invention provides a method for extracting lipids from microorganisms by lysing cells and removing water soluble compound and/or materials by washing the lysed cell mixtures with aqueous washing solutions until a substantially non-emulsified lipid is obtained.

Abstract: A biologically pure isolate of a selected bacterium derived from Clostridium autoethanogenum is described which has improved efficiency in the production of ethanol by anaerobic fermentation of substrates comprising carbon monoxide. The bacterium can produce ethanol and acetate at an ethanol to acetate ratio of at least 1.0 and has a productivity of at least 1.2 g of ethanol/l of fermentation broth per day. The bacterium is also characterized in that it has substantially no ability to sporulate.

Abstract: A thixotropic gel suitable for use in subsurface bioremediation is provided along with a process of using the gel. The thixotropic gel provides a non-migrating injectable substrate that can provide below ground barrier properties. In addition, the gel components provide for a favorable environment in which certain contaminants are preferentially sequestered in the gel and subsequently remediated by either indigenous or introduced microorganisms.

Abstract: A method of separating a polymer from a biomass containing the polymer, includes contacting the biomass with a solvent system, the solvent system including a solvent for the polymer and a precipitant for the polymer, to provide a residual biomass and a solution that includes the polymer, the solvent for the polymer and the precipitant for the polymer; and applying a centrifugal force to the solution and residual biomass to separate at least some of the solution from the residual biomass; where, the polymer is a polyhydroxyalkanoate; the precipitant comprises at least one alkane; the solvent for the polymer is selected from the group consisting of ketones, esters and alcohols and combinations thereof; and the biomass comprises a slurry of the biomass and water.

Abstract: A microbial culture and method for producing wax esters using highly branched alkanes. In accordance with one embodiment, the highly branched alkane is squalane.

Abstract: The present invention relates to methods of inhibiting growth and reproduction of microorganisms in rapidly biodegradable hydrocarbonaceous products, containing minor amounts of aqueous liquids. The present invention also relates to rapidly biodegradable hydrocarbonaceous products containing an effective amount of a petroleum-derived hydrocarbonaceous product such that the rapidly biodegradable hydrocarbonaceous product resists visible growth of microorganisms.

Abstract: This invention relates to the isolation of a novel putative efflux gene from Pseudomonas mendocina. The putative efflux gene is useful for probing an organism's efflux system to gain an understanding of the mechanisms of solvent tolerance. The invention further provides a Pseudomonas mendocina strain deficient in this gene. This strain is unable to grow in the presence of chloramphenicol and, compared to the wildtype strain, grows slowly in the presence of high concentrations of PHBA.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a novel process for the preparation of mixture of 19 hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid and 20 hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (19 HETE and 20 HETE) by biotransformation of Arachidonic acid or Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acids (PUFA) with yeast as the biotransforming agent.

Abstract: A process for the fed batch production of a sophorolipid composition is described, in which culturing takes place of at least one Candida bombicola strain in a culture medium incorporating a sugar and a nitrogen source and said cultured strain is exposed in a reaction zone to a supply of an appropriate substrate under adequate aeration, temperature and pH conditions and at least once the following sequence is performed: a) the strain is continuously supplied with substrate at a supply rate in the reaction zone between 0.

Abstract: Organisms that degrade hydrocarbon-based substances are encapsulated in wax to form organism-containing wax microshells that are used for removing oil-based substances such as oil spills on land and water. The organism is preferably of the genus Candida that produce lipase. The microshell may contain nutrients that sustain the organism. The wax is paraffin wax or beeswax, and the microshell may be coated with talc or carbon powder to provide insulation and to prevent one microshell from sticking to another. When used for remediating an oil spill on water, the microshells are preferably contained in a buoyant container that acts as a flotation device. The flotation device may contain flotation means such as gas-filled microballoons that facilitate flotation.

Abstract: Heteropolysaccharide biopolymers well adopted as thickening agents are improvedly produced by microbially fermenting a carbohydrate nutrient medium, said nutrient medium comprising an oil-in-water emulsion of a discontinuous oily phase dispersed within a continuous aqueous phase.

Abstract: This invention provides an interface bioreactor system comprising (a) a reaction tank having (1) a reaction solvent placed therein, (2) a plurality of plate-like hydrophilic immobilizing carriers each having a thickness of 1 to 500 mm and packed therein so as to be arranged in a vertical position at intervals of 3 to 100 mm, the hydrophilic immobilizing carriers having a microorganism deposited and immobilized on the surfaces thereof in a growable or viable state and containing a liquid medium composed of water and nutrients necessary for the growth or survival of the microorganism, and (3) a sparger or agitator disposed at the bottom thereof; and (b) an aeration line connected with the reaction tank for supplying oxygen thereto. This system is highly efficient and can be scaled up easily.

Abstract: A method for the determination of glycated protein in a sample characterised in that it comprises treating the sample with a protease and treating the protease-treated sample with a ketoamine oxidase, a product of this reaction being measured is disclosed.

Abstract: A microbial cleaner comprising at least one hydrocarbon-ingesting microbe strain and a biocatalyst transforms hydrocarbons into nontoxic substances. The biocatalyst includes a nonionic surfactant, a chlorine-absorbing salt, at least one microbe nutrient, and water. The cleaner can be used in virtually any situation requiring the removal of hydrocarbon, including cleaning contaminated soil and treating oil spills on soil and water.

Abstract: Method for the culture of Babesia divergens, characterized in that the Babesia strain is maintained under culture in a culture medium free from serous protein but containing lipoproteins and red blood corpuscles, and a method for preparing exoantigens and a vaccine containing these antigens.

Abstract: Methods for the isolation and purification of the phytotoxin cercosporin are disclosed as well as methods for identifying microorganisms capable of degrading cercosporin. Cercosporin can be purified from members of the fungal genus Cercospora and incorporated into culture medium for selection of those organisms resistant to cercosporin. Once identified, these organisms can be used to isolate the protein and the gene responsible for conferring cercosporin-resistance. The gene can be cloned and inserted into a suitable expression vector so that the protein can be further characterized. Additionally, the DNA encoding for cercosporin-resistance can be inserted into a vector suitable for transforming an Agrobacterium and the Agrobacterium in turn used to transform plant cells normally susceptible to Cercospora infection. Plants can be regenerated from the transformed plant cells. In this way, a transgenic plant can be produced with the capability of degrading cercosporin.

Abstract: A purified hydroxylase component of the soluble methane monooxygenase enzyme present in the bacterium Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b is found capable of oxidizing hydrocarbons under aerobic conditions in the presence of suitable reducing agents. The hydroxylase can be reduced by commercial reducing agents, such as sodium dithionite and photo- and electrochemical means when in the presence of electron transport components, such as methyl viologen and proflavin. The hydroxylase can also be activated by hydrogen peroxide in the absence of reducing agents and molecular oxygen and is capable of oxidizing hydrocarbons under aerobic and anaerobic conditions in this manner. The hydroxylase component can be obtained with high final specific activity when ferrous iron compounds and cysteine are included in the purification buffers used to extract the hydroxylase from bacterial cells.

Abstract: A purified hydroxylase component of the soluble methane monooxygenase enzyme present in the bacterium Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b is found capable of oxidizing hydrocarbons under aerobic conditions in the presence of suitable reducing agents. The hydroxylase can be reduced by commercial reducing agents, such as sodium dithionite and photo- and electrochemical means when in the presence of electron transport components, such as methyl viologen and proflavin. The hydroxylase component can be obtained with high final specific activity when ferrous iron compounds and cysteine are included in the purification buffers used to extract the hydroxylase from bacterial cells.

Abstract: A process for the production of a highly unsaturated fatty acid having an odd number of carbon atoms by culturing a microorganism belong to the genus Mortierella and capable of producing the fatty acid; and a process for the production a highly unsaturated fatty acid having an odd number of carbon atoms, typically represented by 8,11,14-nonadecatrienoic acid, by culturing a microorganism capable of producing arachidonic acid.

Abstract: The microbial decontamination of soils contaminated with hydrocarbons, in particular with mineral oils, by microbial oxidation is improved by a process in which in addition to supplying the oxygen necessary for degradation, by aeration, soluble nutrients, water and soluble or dispersed biosurfactants as such or mixed with chemical surfactants are metered into the contaminated soils directly or into the removed contaminated soil layers, in one or more batches at time intervals, in an amount such that the formation of toxic intermediates which slow down or block microbial degradation in prevented, the accessibility of mineral oils and their products for the microorganisms is simultaneously increased and, as a result, accelerated, virtually complete mineralization by respiration to CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 O is effected.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a process for producing an unsaturated fatty acid or derivative thereof which comprises culturing an unsaturated fatty acid-producing microorganism belonging to the genus Rhodococcus in a medium containing a saturated fatty acid or a derivative thereof, or causing the resting cells of the microorganisms to act on a saturated fatty acid or a derivative thereof. Also disclosed herein is a process for producing an alkene or derivative thereof which comprises culturing an unsaturated hydrocarbon compound-producing microorganism belonging to the genus Rhodococcus in a medium containing an alkane or derivative thereof, or causing the resting cells of the microorganism to act on an alkane or derivative thereof.

Abstract: A method for culturing microorganisms belonging to the genus Pseudomonas or the genus Escherichia and having tolerance to an organic solvent such as any one of hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, ketones and their derivatives or their mixture in a medium containing the organic solvent in a concentration of 0.3% or more. The present method can be widely utilized in the fields of bioreactor, liquid-waste treatment, protein engineering, etc.

Abstract: A mixture of Pseudomonas putida one having plasmids encoding the camphor (CAM) and toluene (TOL) degradation and the other having a plasmid encoding for naphthalene (NAH) degradation is described. The mixture is more effective than either Pseudomonas putida alone or than a single Pseudomonas putida with three related plasmids which encode for the degradation of CAM, TOL and NAH.

Abstract: Rhamnolipids with high surface activity are produced micro iologically in high yield per g of dry cell substance using Pseudomonas spec. DSM 2874 in the form of growing, resting and immobilized cell mass in an aqueous medium containing at least one assimilable carbon source at a pH of 6.7 to 7.3 and a temperature of 30.degree. to 37.degree. C. Two new rhamnolipids with only one .beta.-hydroxydecanoic acid residue in the molecule and defined as .alpha.-L-rhamnopyranosyl- and 2-O-.alpha.-L-rhamnopyranosyl-.alpha.-L-rhamnopyranosyl-.beta.-hydroxydeca noic acid with a molecular weight of 334 and 480, respectively, are obtained.

Abstract: The subject invention concerns a novel plasmid and its use in a microbial host to degrade a variety of organic compounds. Some of these compounds, such as ethylene dichloride, are undesirable waste products found in various dump sites. The invention also concerns a novel microbe hosting the novel plasmid. The novel plasmid has been shown to encode the gene(s) responsible for the degradation of the organic compounds. Thus, microbes hosting this plasmid, denoted pEDC, can be used to degrade ethylene dichloride, and other compounds.

Abstract: Agricultural methods of biological control and organisms useful in such methods are disclosed, such as a plant colonizing organisms and methods of biologically controlling plant disease caused by fungi. A novel type of Pseudomonas cepacia type Wisconsin has been identified. These strains and other P. cepacia strains described are useful as vectors for delivery to plants of beneficial products.

Abstract: Anionic, surface-active trehalose lipids, in which different organic acids are bound to a trehalose molecule by an ester linkage, are prepared by aerobically cultivating trehalose-producing microorganisms, capable of assimilating hydrocarbons, under growth-limiting conditions, but without limiting the oxygen.

Abstract: This invention provides a process for stabilizing a population of a mutant microorganism in a bioconversion system whereby growth of revertant cells is suppressed.The process involves limiting a nutrient which is essential for cell growth so that the cells selectively grow on a growth carbon source rather than on a non-growth carbon source which is present. The revertant cells being suppressed have a similar ability as the parent strain of the mutant microorganism to grow on the non-growth carbon source in the bioconversion system.The non-growth carbon source in the bioconversion system is metabolized to an extracellular accumulating quantity of a desired metabolite, e.g., toluene is converted to muconic acid.

Abstract: In the aerobic culture of microorganisms of the Xanthomonas genus in fermentation media, the use of water-in-oil emulsions in the media minimizes viscosity problems and enhances yields of Xanthomonas biopolymers. Preferably, the emulsion is formed with a surfactant and the microorganism is Xanthomonas campestris.

Abstract: Novel yeasts are disclosed including Pichia pastoris NRRL Y-11430, yeasts having the characteristics of Pichia pastoris NRRL Y-11430, mutants of Pichia pastoris NRRL Y-11430, and strains derived therefrom. Also disclosed are methods of culturing the strains, and biochemical conversions employing the strains.

Abstract: A new biotype, SDL-POP-S-1, of the soilborne beneficial bacterium Pseudomonas cepacia NRRL B-14149 has been discovered. The biotype is very effective in controlling Pythium diseases of cucumbers and peas. A new medium that is exclusively selective for the bacterium Pseudomonas cepacia has also been developed.

Abstract: This invention provides an improved fermentation process for bioconversion of toluene to muconic acid.The process involves operating the bioconversion system under phosphate-limiting conditions so as to achieve an increase in specific muconic acid productivity with a stabilized population of microorganism such as an ATCC No. 31,916 type of Pseudomonas putida Biotype A mutant strain.

Abstract: This invention provides a continuous bioconversion process in which a cross-flow membrane filtration zone is employed to recover a whole cell-containing retentate stream and a cell-free bioconversion product-containing permeate stream. The retentate stream is recycled to the fermentation zone. In a specific embodiment, toluene is bio-oxidized to muconic acid with a microorganism such as Pseudomonas putida Biotype A strain ATCC 31,916. The muconic acid is recovered as a precipitate from the cell-free permeate fermentation broth, and the fermentation broth is recycled in the process.

Abstract: Protein is produced by bacterial degradation of rubber in a nutrient-containing, preferably sterile environment. The resultant protein is particularly useful as an animal feed.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a microbiological process for the production of citric acid by assimilation of .alpha.-olefins, normal paraffins and their mixture. This process is carried out by culturing the microorganisms selected from the group of Candida tropicalis, Candida lipolytica, Candida intermedia and Canida brumptii and their mutants and their variants under higher concentration of dissolved oxygen than that in ordinary aeration in the culture medium. The concentration of dissolved oxygen in the culture medium is suitable in the range of from 5 to 40 ppm, preferably from 10 to 30 ppm on the weight basis of said culture medium in this invention.There is many means of which increase the dissolved oxygen in the culture medium.

Abstract: A method of high cellular density yeast fermentation at high mineral salts feed to and maintained in the ferment.Single cell protein (SCP) is produced in an aerobic fermentation process at high yields under high cell density conditions employing media of high mineral salts concentration. Novel Pichia pastoris and Hansenula polymorpha yeasts are disclosed.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a suppressing method of iso-citric acid formation in producing citric acid from hydrocarbons by fermentation.This process is carried out by culturing the microorganisms selected from the group belonging to Candida tropicalis, Candida lipolytica, Candida intermedia and Candida brumptii and their mutants and variants in the culture medium containing paraffinic and olefinic hydrocarbons and their mixture as carbon source under aerobic conditions, wherein specific non-ionic surface active agent is added to said culture medium.The specific non-ionic surface active agent added to said culture medium is selected from the group of sorbitan fatty acid esters and polyoxy-ethylene sorbitan fatty acid esters. The amount of specific surface active agent added to said culture medium is enough from 0.005 to 0.5 percent by weight, preferably from 0.02 to 0.2 percent on the weight basis of said culture medium.

Abstract: Citric acids are produced by culturing a citric acids-accumulating and hydrocarbon-assimilating strain of a yeast of the genus Candida in an aqueous medium containing, as main carbon source, at least one normal paraffin with from 9 to 20 carbon atoms, inclusive, in the molecule, at a specific pH, and recovering accumulated citric acids from the culture broth.

Abstract: Citric acids are produced by culturing a citric acids-accumulating and hydrocarbon-assimilating strain of a yeast of the Genus Candida in an aqueous medium containing, as main carbon source, at least one normal paraffin with from 9 to 20 carbon atoms, inclusive, in the molecule, at a specific pH, and recovering accumulated citric acids from the culture broth.

Abstract: An improved landfarming medium and process is disclosed in which hydrocarbon wastes are disposed of by dispersing them in a medium composed of a mixture of soil containing hydrocarbon-oxidizing microorganisms and a spent, solid, particulate, porous hydrocarbon cracking catalyst and/or a spent, solid, particulate, porous filtration medium.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for the epoxidation of lower .alpha.-olefins dienes or vinyl aromatic compounds by contacting said compounds, under aerobic conditions in the presence of microorganisms, genetically engineered organisms thereof or enzyme preparations derived from said microorganisms. The microorganisms, genetically engineered organisms, or enzyme preparations derived therefrom are preferably those microorganisms which are known as methylotrophs particularly those which have previously grown under aerobic conditions in a nutrient medium containing methane.

Abstract: Newly isolated microbes of the genera Arthrobacter-Corynebacterium-Nocardia as represented by Corynebacteria Salvinicum strain SFC, produce substantial quantities of materials having outstanding surfactant properties, when grown on carbon supplying substrates under fermentation conditions.

Abstract: Process for the culture of aerobic microorganisms in a culture medium provided with at least one source of oxygen, at least one source of carbon and at least one source of hydrogen, comprises providing oxygen originating from the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide as a source of oxygen and providing at least one highly inflammable product as a source of carbon and hydrogen.

Abstract: A method for the oxidation of hydrocarbons to monocarboxylic acids and then to dicarboxylic acids by the aerobic cultivation or resting cell reaction of the organism Debaryomyces vanriji (BR-308) ATCC 20588.

Abstract: A method is disclosed for the microbiological transformation of steroids, especially cholesterol, by employing culture media which contain hydrocarbons rather than carbohydrates. Paraffinic hydrocarbons, particularly normal paraffins from 15 to 20 carbon atoms, are used as the only carbon and energy sources. SP2T (NRRL B-11, 112), SP3T bis (NRRL B-11, 113), SP5T (NRRL B-11, 114), SP7T/1 (NRRL B-11, 115), SP742XXA (NRRL B-11, 116), SP731RD (NRRL B-11, 117), and SP734D (NRRL B-11, 118) are bacterial strains which can be used to this purpose.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for the microbiological production of ketones from C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 alkanes by contacting C.sub.3 -C.sub.6 alkanes under aerobic conditions with resting microbial cells derived from a methylotrophic microorganism or enzyme preparation derived from said cells, wherein the microorganism has been previously grown under aerobic conditions in a nutrient medium containing methane or dimethyl ether.

Abstract: The cell walls are removed from two distinct auxotropic mutant strains of yeast. The protoplasts thus obtained are fused and the cell walls regenerated. The strains obtained are cultured on a medium where the original auxotrophs cannot develop and the hybrid or recombinant strains are recovered. The strains obtained by the process are useful for preparing yeast proteins.