Engineering the halophilic bacterium Halomonas elongata to produce β-carotene

Engineering halophilic bacteria to produce carotenoids is a subject of great scientific and commercial interest, as carotenoids are desirable products used as additives and colorants in the food industry, with β-carotene the most prominent. With this target, we expressed the β-carotene biosynthetic...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rodríguez-Sáiz, Marta, Sánchez-Porro Álvarez, Cristina, De La Fuente, Juan Luis, Mellado Durán, María Encarnación, Barredo, José Luis
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2007
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/165140
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/165140
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-007-1195-2
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Carotene
Carotenoid
Engineering
Halomonas
Halophilic
Descripción
Sumario:Engineering halophilic bacteria to produce carotenoids is a subject of great scientific and commercial interest, as carotenoids are desirable products used as additives and colorants in the food industry, with β-carotene the most prominent. With this target, we expressed the β-carotene biosynthetic genes crtE, crtY, crtI, and crtB from Pantoea agglomerans and the cDNA encoding isopentenyl pyrophosphate isomerase from Haematococcus pluvialis in the halophilic bacterium Halomonas elongata obtaining a strain able to produce practically pure β-carotene. Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis showed crtY, crtI, and crtB heterologous expression in a selected exconjugant of H. elongata. Biosynthesis of β-carotene was dependent on NaCl concentration in the culture medium, with the highest production (560 μg per g of dry weight) in 2% NaCl. On the contrary, no β-carotene was detected in 15% NaCl. Successful construction of the β-carotene biosynthetic pathway in H. elongata opens the possibility of engineering halophilic bacteria for carotenoid production.