Isolation and identification of echinenone from Micrococcus roseus.
An orange carotenoid from Micrococcus roseus was purified by solvent partitioning followed by column and thin-layer chromatography. Absorption spectra, chromatographic mobility, and partition coefficient suggested that the pigment was echinenone (4-keto-beta-carotene). Reduction yielded a pigment with the spectral and polar properties of isocryptoxanthin (4-hydroxy-beta-carotene), the expected product. The orange pigment and its reduction product co-chromatographed with the respective authentic pigments, confirming the original pigment as echinenone. To our knowledge echinenone has not been identified previously as a bacterial pigment.
D002338:Carotenoids / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D002855:Chromatography, Thin Layer; D008837:Micrococcus / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D013057:Spectrum Analysis
D002338:Carotenoids