Developing a bioprocess for a novel trehalose tetraester biosurfactant from Rhodococcus erythropolis KB1 and evaluating its efficacy in PAH bioremediation

作者：Ning Zhu, Changze Han, Xiaopeng Guo, Dan Luo, Feifan Leng, Yan Zhuang, Pengfei Gao, Peijie Zhao, Kai Zhou, Jixiang Chen, Yonggang Wang · 发表于：Bioresource Technology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.biortech.2025.133347 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Microbial bioremediation and biosurfactants、Petroleum Processing and Analysis、Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques

The bioremediation of petroleum hydrocarbons in cold environments remains a significant challenge, necessitating novel biosurfactants with superior low-temperature performance. This study investigates a unique trehalose tetraester (TTEs) from the cryotolerant strain Rhodococcus erythropolis KB1. This TTEs, featuring a unique mixed-ester structure, exhibits excellent properties, including high PAH-solubilization efficacy at 10 °C, a low critical micelle concentration (CMC, 100 mg/L), and high emulsification activity ( E 24 > 90 % for crude oil). A high-yield bioprocess was developed, achieving 2.5 g/L on crude oil with excellent productivity and substrate conversion efficiency, and was scaled up to 3.3 g/L on sorbitol, with kinetic analysis supporting industrial fed-batch strategies. Furthermore, a putative biosynthetic pathway was proposed via genomic analysis, and the molecular basis for the strain’s cryotolerance was elucidated through multi-omics. In phenanthrene-contaminated soil, a synergistic strategy combining the strain and its TTEs achieved the highest degradation efficiency (90.9 %)—significantly outperforming a chemical surfactant—by actively engineering the soil microbiome, promoting key indigenous degraders while suppressing competitors. These findings establish the KB1/TTEs system as a potent, ecologically sound platform for developing advanced, community-driven bioremediation technologies, especially for cold environments.