title: Selection and taxonomic identification of carotenoid-producing marine actinomycetes.
abstract: Carotenoids are important pigments produced by plants and many microorganisms, including fungi, microalgae, cyanobacteria, and bacteria. Marine actinomycetes are a group of bacteria that produce a variety of metabolites with economic potential. Here, we describe a general method of selecting marine actinomycetes as carotenoids' producers. The screening is carried out at two levels: the first one involves a quick selection of strains by visual color inspection, and the second consists in the analysis of the extracts by HPLC. The taxonomic analysis of the producing strains gives us an overview of the groups of actinomycetes in which carotenoids can be found.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Instituto Biomar, S.A. Parque Tecnológico de León, León, Spain. microleon@institutobiomar.com
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Rosa Isabel
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Fernández-Chimeno
authors.forename: Juan Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: de la Fuente
authors.forename: José-Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Barredo
mesh_terms: D039903:Actinobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D017931:DNA Primers; D008386:Marine Biology
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D002338:Carotenoids