Filamentous fungi are well known by their ability to secrete biotechnologically important enzymes into the environment. Lipase enzymes catalyze the hydrolysis of triacylglycerols to give free fatty acids, diacylglycerols, monoacylglycerols and glycerol. There is a growing interest in microbial lipase production due to its great potential for various industrial applications. Zygomycetes are good producers of lipases, however, representatives of the order Mortierellales are poorly characterized from this aspect. Our knowledge in reference to the activity and production of the enzymes by soil isolated zygomycetous fungi is also limited. The main objective of this work was the screening of 35 soil isolated strains belonging to the genera Mortierella, Dissophora and Umbelopsis with potential to produce lipases. For detection of extracellular lipase production, culturing media containing tributyrin was used and the level of the lipase production was evaluated by measuring the diameter of the halo around the colonies. The halo was formed in consequence of the lipase activity and measured daily during the incubation period. The lipase production of the tested strains showed high variability and several isolates showing high enzyme activity were detected in each genus. Among the tested isolates, the Dissophora ornata, Mortierella longicollis and Umbelopsis angularis strains proved to be outstanding in their enzyme producing ability. The M. longicollis were selected to investigate the effects of various inductor oils on the enzyme production using submerged culture fermentation systems
