Isolation, identification and Increasing of lipid production by using UV mutation and Replica-printing method in Rhodotorula musilaginosa

Application of microbial lipid as the superseding source of oil for human utilization was regarded in the first years of 20th century. One of the important aspects of single cell oil production is producing of microbial lipid rich in unsaturated fatty acids. Another importance of microbial oil is its application in biodiesel production, so isolation of oleaginous yeast with high potential of lipid production and efforts for increasing lipid content of them has great importance. In this investigation the goal was increasing lipid production of Rhodotorula musilaginosa using UV mutation technique. For this purpose at first oleaginous yeast Rhodotorula musilaginosa was isolated. Produced oil was analyzed by FTIR spectroscopy and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. The strain was identified by PCR method, after that the effect of UV mutation on its lipid yield was evaluated. For screening of mutated colonies with higher potential of lipid production, replica-printing technique was used. During different mutations one of the screened colonies with this technique had increasing in lipid content from 33.7% to 58.62% which was equal to 3.05 g/l increasing in lipid yield. These results show that there are valuable native strains with potential of increasing of lipid production using mutation and can be used in different industrial fields such as biodiesel production.