ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CONJUGATED LINOLEIC ACID (CLA) PRODUCING BUTYRIVIBRIO SPP. FROM INDIAN RUMINANTS.

Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) are well known for their anti-cancerous, anti-obesity and immunomodulatory effects. CLA are the geometric and positional isomer of Linoleic Acid (LA) and formed during the microbial bio-hydrogenation of LA in rumen of poly-gastric animals. Among all known rumen microbiotaButyrivibrio spp. is known to be the most effective CLA producer. In the present study, an attempt was made to isolate and characterize Butyrivibrio spp. and to evaluate their CLA production in-vitro by rapid screening method. A total of 257 pure anaerobic cultures were isolated and further characterized on the basis of morphological and biochemical characteristics. Twentyfour isolates were confirmed as Butyrivibrio spp. Further CLA production potential of all the isolated were determined with various concentrations of free LA ((0, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 µg/ml of broth) at different time intervals (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 24 and 36 h). The highest CLA was produced by Butyrivibrio F7, which accumulated a total of 75.24 µg/ml CLA when supplemented with 200 µg/ml LA substrate after 24 h of incubation. Our study revealed that CLA production is a strain specific attributes and it depends upon the concentration of the substrate and the time of incubation as well. This preliminary study provides an insight into the CLA production potential of Butyrivibrio spp., which can further be utilize as feed supplement for animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]