Sophorolipids: multifunctional microbial glycolipids with diverse bioactivities and applications

IF 6.1 1区工程技术 Q1 BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY

Biotechnology for Biofuels Pub Date : 2025-12-14 DOI:10.1186/s13068-025-02723-5

Chaozhi Wang, Chunyang Zhou, Yazheng Cao, Mohd Sadeeq, Ke Yu, Feifei Hou, Peng Xiong

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Sophorolipids (SLs) are glycolipid biosurfactants produced by non-pathogenic yeasts and represent a sustainable, biocompatible alternative to synthetic surfactants. Their amphiphilic architecture—comprising a hydrophilic sophorose headgroup and a hydrophobic fatty acid tail—confers excellent surface activity, emulsifying capacity, and a broad spectrum of biological effects. This review synthesizes advances since 2020 in understanding SL bioactivities, including antibacterial, antifungal, antibiofilm, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects. We examine structure–activity relationships that govern functionality and survey strategies to enhance efficacy, such as chemical modification to generate novel derivatives and incorporation into nanostructures for targeted delivery. The review also evaluates application potential across sectors—agriculture (biopesticides, soil amendments), food (emulsifiers, preservatives), healthcare (therapeutics, coatings), and environmental remediation (oil and heavy-metal removal). Despite promising developments, challenges remain in production scaling, mechanistic clarity, and comprehensive characterization of novel SL. Addressing these issues will facilitate the integration of SLs into sustainable, high-value bioproducts aligned with green chemistry principles.

Graphical Abstract

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苦参脂：具有多种生物活性和应用的多功能微生物糖脂。

Sophorolipids （SLs）是由非致病性酵母产生的糖脂类生物表面活性剂，是一种可持续的、生物相容性的合成表面活性剂替代品。它们的两亲性结构——包括亲水性皂角头基和疏水性脂肪酸尾基——赋予了优异的表面活性、乳化能力和广泛的生物效应。本文综述了自2020年以来对SL生物活性的研究进展，包括抗菌、抗真菌、抗生物膜、抗病毒、抗炎、抗氧化和抗癌作用。我们研究了控制功能的结构-活性关系，并研究了提高功效的策略，例如化学修饰以产生新的衍生物，并将其结合到纳米结构中以进行靶向递送。该综述还评估了跨部门的应用潜力——农业（生物农药、土壤改良剂）、食品（乳化剂、防腐剂）、医疗保健（治疗剂、涂料）和环境修复（石油和重金属去除）。尽管发展前景良好，但在生产规模、机制清晰度和新型SL的综合表征方面仍存在挑战。解决这些问题将有助于将SL整合到符合绿色化学原则的可持续、高价值生物产品中。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Biotechnology for Biofuels 工程技术-生物工程与应用微生物

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

2.7 months

期刊介绍： Biotechnology for Biofuels is an open access peer-reviewed journal featuring high-quality studies describing technological and operational advances in the production of biofuels, chemicals and other bioproducts. The journal emphasizes understanding and advancing the application of biotechnology and synergistic operations to improve plants and biological conversion systems for the biological production of these products from biomass, intermediates derived from biomass, or CO2, as well as upstream or downstream operations that are integral to biological conversion of biomass. Biotechnology for Biofuels focuses on the following areas: • Development of terrestrial plant feedstocks • Development of algal feedstocks • Biomass pretreatment, fractionation and extraction for biological conversion • Enzyme engineering, production and analysis • Bacterial genetics, physiology and metabolic engineering • Fungal/yeast genetics, physiology and metabolic engineering • Fermentation, biocatalytic conversion and reaction dynamics • Biological production of chemicals and bioproducts from biomass • Anaerobic digestion, biohydrogen and bioelectricity • Bioprocess integration, techno-economic analysis, modelling and policy • Life cycle assessment and environmental impact analysis