GREENING INDIA'S FUEL: BACILLUS VELEZENSIS DAA1, A GAME-CHANGER IN SUSTAINABLE LIPID SYNTHESIS FOR BIOENERGY

India presently depends on imports of crude oil from overseas sources. However, the increasing demand for fossil fuels and the depletion of these finite resources are contributing to a rise in the costs associated with these imports. There has been a pressing demand for the development of cost-effective, renewable, and environmentally sustainable solutions. Biofuels, which are obtained from a wide range of biomass sources such as plants, animals, and microbes, present a potentially viable answer. Microorganisms exhibiting the ability to accumulate lipids in excess of 20% in the form of triacylglycerols and wax esters are commonly denoted as "oleaginous". The primary objective of this work was to isolate and screen bacterial strains with high lipid accumulation potential from soil samples collected along riverbanks. A total of fourteen strains were isolated and subjected to screening in order to assess their lipid production capabilities. Among these strains, Bacillus velezensis strain DAA1 exhibited the highest level of lipid synthesis. Response Surface Methodology was used to optimize carbon and salt concentrations. The experimental findings indicated that the utilization of carbon at a concentration of 12.5 g/L with salt concentration of 17.07 g/L, resulted in a noteworthy lipid content of 79%. The major fatty acid found through Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for lipid characterization was determined to be 12-methyltetradecanoic acid, constituting 41% of the overall lipid composition. This work highlights the potential of Bacillus velezensis DAA1 as a promising alternative for lipid production, with possible implications for biofuel generation in the industry.