Characterisation of a biosurfactant produced by a Bacillus cereus strain tolerant to cadmium and isolated from green coffee grain

In this work, a Gram-positive bacterium with bacillus-type morphology was isolated from low-quality coffee beans in a nutritive medium supplemented with 178 mu M of Cd [Cd(NO3)(2) 4H(2)O]. PCR showed 99% similarity of the isolated bacteria with Bacillus cereus QD232. This bacterium produced a biosurfactant after 120 h of growth with an average production of 480 mg l(-1) and was able to emulsify various hydrocarbons such as diesel (60%), cyclohexane (48%), benzene (48%), isooctane (47%) and toluene (40%). The molecular weight of the biosurfactant, as determined by high-performance liquid chromatography, was 34,194 Da. The cell-free media had a surface tension of 45 mN m(-1) and a critical micellar concentration in the range of 0.2-2.5% (v/v), as evaluated by surface tension and conductance, respectively. The emulsifying agent maintained its properties over a pH range from 6 to 10. The composition of the biosurfactant was 53% proteins, 44.4% lipids and 2.6% carbohydrates. Only a few reports have described the production of biosurfactant from Bacillus cereus strains, and the results from this study show that the biosurfactant properties of Bacillus cereus may have potential environmental applications.