ISOLATION OF OLEAGINOUS ENDOPHYTES FROM NATURAL SOURCES.

Petroleum is a natural source of energy being largely consumed by world’s population. But consumption of petro products is not only exhausting availability of crude oils but also increasing greenhouse gases and creating expensive as well as challenging waste recycling issues. Microbial lipid could be an alternative to petroleum, containing a high fraction of polyunsaturated fatty acids which could serve as the potential source of significant quantities of transportation fuels. In the present study, an attempt has been made to isolate oleaginous endophytes, the microorganisms prevailing inside the plant part that is supposed to contain lipid in abundance within them. Further characterization of the isolates has been done which would give an ideal oleaginous microorganism, useful in the production of microbial lipid, an alternative source of petroleum.