초록
<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P>This unique study reports a new strain (BPU1) of <I>Candida tropicalis</I> isolated from the rumen of the Malabari goat, showing dual production of biosurfactant and polyhydroxybutyrate. <I>C</I>. <I>tropicalis</I> strain BPU1, a facultative anaerobe, was tuned to become an aerobe in specially designed flask, the Benjamin flask. The puffy circular colonies were smooth, white‐to‐cream in colour, with pseudo‐filaments. The strain fermented glucose, sucrose, maltose and dextrose, but not lactose and cellulose. It assimilated (NH<SUB>4</SUB>)<SUB>2</SUB>SO<SUB>4</SUB>, peptone, glycine and arginine, but not NaNO<SUB>3</SUB>, as the nitrogen source. Interestingly, it utilized groundnut oil (up to 0.3%) in a specially designed basal mineral salt medium (BSM). Its capability for dual production of a biosurfactant and a polyhydroxybutyarate (PHB) was explored by various methods from the BSM–oil medium. Extracted biosurfactant from 6 day‐old culture was biochemically characterized as a complex of lipid and carbohydrate with an <I>R</I><SUB>f</SUB> value of 0.88 by thin layer chromatography. Its PHB production was confirmed by specific staining methods with Nile blue sulphate, Sudan black B and Sudan 3. Briefly, this first‐ever report gives ample physical evidence for the dual production of a glycolipid (biosurfactant) and PHB by <I>C</I>. <I>tropicalis</I> strain BPU1 on a specially designed medium, which would open up elaborate research on this yeast. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.</P>