Figure 2

TAG production from glycerol and/or glucose by R. opacus MITGM-173. (a-c) Time course kinetics of TAG production as fatty acids. The strain was grown in defined media containing 16 g L⁻¹ glycerol (a), a mixture of 8 g L⁻¹ glycerol and 8 g L⁻¹ glucose (b), and 16 g L⁻¹ glucose (c) in shake flasks. Values and error bars represent the mean and s.d. of triplicate experiments. (d) Thin-layer chromatography analysis of the crude organic extracts obtained from the cells grown on glycerol (a), glycerol/glucose (b), and glucose (c) for 6 days. Lipids were extracted and separated on a silica gel plate as described in the “Methods” section. Lipid standards of TAG (1,2-dioleoyl-3-stearoyl-rac-glycerol), DAG (1,2-dipalmitoyl-rac-glycerol), and MAG (DL-α-palmitin) were used to identify the Rf value for TAG under the conditions used. Lanes: 1, crude lipid extract (10 μg) on glycerol; 2, crude lipid extract (10 μg) on glycerol/glucose; 3, crude lipid extract (10 μg) on glucose; S, TAG (3 μg)/DAG (3 μg)/MAG (3 μg) mixtures. (e) Fatty acid composition as percentage of total fatty acids (g g⁻¹) of lipids from the cells growing in the defined medium containing glycerol (a), glycerol/glucose (b), or glucose (c) for 6 days. Data are results of triplicate experiments, ±s.d.