SCREENING OF MARINE CYANOBACTERIA FOR HIGH PALMITOLEIC ACID PRODUCTION

Screening of fatty acid composition in 150 strains of marine microalga e, cyanobacteria and green algae was carried out, and 20 strains showe d relatively high contents of palmitoleic acid. Among them, two cyanob acteria, Phormidium sp. NKBG 041105 and Oscillatoria sp. NKBG 091600, showed an unusually high cis-palmitoleic acid content (54.5% and 54.4% of total fatty acid, respectively). Phormidium sp. NKBG 041105 had th e highest cis-palmitoleic acid content per biomass (46.3 mg (g dry cel l weight)(-1)), and cis-palmitoleic acid composition was found to be c onstant with varying temperature. These results indicate that this cya nobacterium could be considered as a new source for palmitoleic acid.