Evaluating the potential use of myxomycetes as a source of lipids for biodiesel production

The myxomycetes are a group of primitive phagotrophic eukaryotes characterized by a distinctive plasmodial stage that is well known for its rapid growth rate. In the present study, biomass and lipid production of several different species of myxomycetes were investigated. Physarum polycephalum was found to produce the highest amounts of both dry biomass (1.30 g), and lipid (0.143 g) per 20 mL medium (equal to 65.0 g biomass and 7.15 g lipid per one liter of medium). Analysis of P. polycephalum lipids by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and fatty acid methyl esters (FAMES) by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) techniques showed that the major lipid type is triglyceride (95.5%), followed by phospholipids (2.6%); diglyceride (0.92%) and monoglyceride (0.92%). Myxomycete lipids consist of three dominant fatty acids: oleic (20%), linoleic (33%), and palmitoleic (17%). These results suggest that P. polycephalum has considerable potential as a source of lipids for biodiesel production.