BIOTRANSFORMATION OF LINOLEIC-ACID WITH THE CANDIDA-TROPICALIS M25 MUTANT

Linoleic acid was transformed by mutant Candida tropicalis M25 and tra nsformations were studied in batch and fed-batch cultures. Cofermentat ions with palmitic acid as inducer of the fatty acid degradation pathw ay were performed. Besides the (Z),(Z)-octadeca-6,9-dienedioic acid, ( Z),(Z)-3-hydroxyoctadeca-9,12-dienedioic acid and (Z),(Z)-3-hydroxytet radeca-5,8-dienedioic acid were obtained as the main fermentation prod ucts. The maximum concentrations of (Z),(Z)-octadeca-6,9-dienedioic ac id and (Z),(Z)-3-hydroxy-octadeca-9,12-dienedioic acid reached values of 6.4 g/l and 6.9 g/l respectively. The structures of the products we re characterized by chemical and spectroscopic methods. The configurat ion of the double bonds was not changed during bioconversion. As only one regioisomer of the hydroxylated fatty acid was detected, the hydro xylation is site-specific.