MOLECULAR-GENETICS OF BIOSURFACTANT PRODUCTION

Biosurfactants are surface-active microbial products that have numerou s industrial applications. The molecular genetics of two structurally diverse biosurfactants, a glycolipid and a lipopeptide, were the first to be characterized. Recent advances include the identification of th e structural genes for a second lipopeptide, and the isolation of a ge ne responsible for enhanced emulsification activity of a high molecula r weight biopolymer. New insight has also developed in the regulatory mechanisms of the originally described biosurfactants, both of which a re controlled by quorum sensing, a mechanism bacteria use to monitor c ell density.