title: Production of the carotenoids lycopene, beta-carotene, and astaxanthin in the food yeast Candida utilis.
abstract: The food-grade yeast Candida utilis has been engineered to confer a novel biosynthetic pathway for the production of carotenoids such as lycopene, beta-carotene, and astaxanthin. The exogenous carotenoid biosynthesis genes were derived from the epiphytic bacterium Erwinia uredovora and the marine bacterium Agrobacterium aurantiacum. The carotenoid biosynthesis genes were individually modified based on the codon usage of the C. utilis glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene and expressed in C. utilis under the control of the constitutive promotes and terminators derived from C. utilis. The resultant yeast strains accumulated lycopene, beta-carotene, and astaxanthin in the cells at 1.1, 0.4, and 0.4 mg per g (dry weight) of cells, respectively. This was considered to be a result of the carbon flow into ergosterol biosynthesis being partially redirected to the nonendogenous pathway for carotenoid production.
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratories for Key Technology, Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd., Kanagawa, Japan. yu-miura@kirin.co.jp
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Misawa
mesh_terms: D001709:Biotechnology; D002175:Candida / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004875:Ergosterol / Q000378:metabolism; D004885:Erwinia / Q000235:genetics; D005516:Food Microbiology; D015870:Gene Expression; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D000077276:Lycopene; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D012231:Rhizobium / Q000235:genetics; D014170:Transformation, Genetic; D024341:Xanthophylls; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D024341:Xanthophylls; D019207:beta Carotene; D002338:Carotenoids; C005948:astaxanthine; D000077276:Lycopene; D004875:Ergosterol