The effect of carbon source on the growth and lipopeptide production of Bacillus circulans

Glucose is the preferred carbon source for lipopeptide production using B. subtilis and B. amyloliquefaciens. However, glucose may not be the most cost-effective substrate for other Bacillus spp. This study compared the effect of glucose, fructose, glycerol, arabinose, maltose, xylose and lactose on biomass and lipopeptide production for s. Glycerol delivered the highest biomass concentration of 13.3 g.L−1, with glucose producing 4.3 g.L−1. Iturin, fengycin and surfactin production was higher for all evaluated carbon sources, over glucose. Fructose resulted in the highest concentration of all three lipopeptide families with iturin, fengycin and surfactin concentrations of 69.93, 111.83 and 35.45 mg.L−1 respectively. Results were compared to B. amyloliquefaciens grown on glucose, producing 108.66, 142.03 and 302.24 mg.L−1 iturin, fengycin and surfactin respectively. This study shows that glucose is not the optimal carbon source for B. circulans DSM-11. Glycerol or fructose offer a more efficient and feasible carbon source for B. circulans DSM-11 to produce biomass and lipopeptides.