title: Analysis of Carotenoid Production by Halorubrum sp. TBZ126; an Extremely Halophilic Archeon from Urmia Lake.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Carotenoids are of great interest in many scientific disciplines because of their wide distribution, diverse functions and interesting properties. The present report describes a new natural source for carotenoid production.
  
  
  METHODS
  Halorubrum sp., TBZ126, an extremely halophilic archaeon, was isolated from Urmia Lack following culture of water sample on marine agar medium and incubation at 30 °C. Then single colonies were cultivated in broth media. After that the cells were collected and carotenoids were extracted with acetone-methanol (7:3 v/v). The identification of carotenoids was performed by UV-VIS spectroscopy and confirmed by thin layer chromatography (TLC) in the presence of antimony pentachloride (SbCl5). The production profile was analyzed using liquid-chromatography mass spectroscopy (LC-MS) techniques. Phenotypic characteristics of the isolate were carried out and the 16S rRNA gene was amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
  
  
  RESULTS
  LC-MS analytical results revealed that produced carotenoids are bacterioruberin, lycopene and β-carotene. Bacterioruberin was found to be the predominant produced carotenoid. 16S rRNA analysis showed that TBZ126 has 100% similarity with Halorubrum chaoviator Halo-G*T (AM048786).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Halorubrum sp. TBZ126, isolated from Urmia Lake has high capacity in the production of carotenoids. This extremely halophilic archaeon could be considered as a prokaryotic candidate for carotenoid production source for future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. ; Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Zanjan University, Zanjan, Iran.
authors.forename: Davood
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Naziri
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. ; Students' Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamidi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Salar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hassanzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahideh
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tarhriz
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Faculty of Agriculture, Zanjan University, Zanjan, Iran.
authors.forename: Bahram
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maleki Zanjani
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nazemyieh
authors.affiliation: Branch for Northwest & West Region, Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute of Iran (ABRII), Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammd Amin
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hejazi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Saeid
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hejazi
keywords: Bacterioruberin; Carotenoids; Halorubrum chaoviator; lycopene; β-carotene