Feeding strategies for the improved biosynthesis of canthaxanthin from enzymatic hydrolyzed molasses in the fed-batch fermentation of Dietzia natronolimnaea HS-1

Turning waste into treasure: Biosynthesis of value-added 2-O-α-glucosyl glycerol and d-allulose from waste cane molasses through an in vitro synthetic biology platform

The efficient and economical conversion of agricultural waste into glycosides and rare sugars is challenging. Herein, an in vitro synthetic bienzyme system consisting of sucrose phosphorylase and d-allulose 3-epimerase was constructed to produce 2-O-α-glucosyl glycerol and d-allulose from cane molasses. Lactic acid in the cane molasses significantly induced sucrose phosphorylase to hydrolyze sucrose instead of glycosylation. Notably, lactic acid significantly inhibited the catalytic performance of d-allulose 3-epimerase only in the presence of Na+ and K+, with an inhibition rate of 75%. After removing lactic acid and metal ions, 116 g/L 2-O-α-glucosyl glycerol and 51 g/L d-allulose were synthesized from 500 mM sucrose in the treated cane molasses with a sucrose consumption rate of 97%. Our findings offer an economically efficient and environmentally friendly pathway for the industrial production of glycosides and rare sugars from food industry waste.

Red yeasts and their carotenogenic enzymes for microbial carotenoid production

Carotenoids are C40 isoprene-based compounds with significant commercial interests that harbor diverse bioactivities. Prominent examples of carotenoids are beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A essential for proper eye health, and lycopene and astaxanthin, powerful antioxidants implicated in preventing cancers and atherosclerosis. Due to their benefits to human health, the market value for carotenoids is rapidly increasing and is projected to reach USD 1.7 billion by 2025. However, their production now relies on chemical synthesis and extraction from plants that pose risks to food management and numerous biological safety issues. Thus, carotenoid production from microbes is considered a promising strategy for achieving a healthy society with more sustainability. Red yeast is a heterogeneous group of basidiomycetous fungi capable of producing carotenoids. It is a critical source of microbial carotenoids from low-cost substrates. Carotenogenic enzymes from red yeasts have also been highly efficient, invaluable biological resources for biotechnological applications. In this minireview, we focus on red yeast as a promising source for microbial carotenoids, strain engineering strategies for improving carotenoid production in red yeasts, and potential applications of carotenogenic enzymes from red yeasts in conventional and nonconventional yeasts.

Bacterial Carotenoids: Extraction, Characterization, and Applications

Natural carotenoids are secondary metabolites that exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer properties. These types of compounds are highly demanded by pharmaceutical, cosmetic, nutraceutical, and food industries, leading to the search for new natural sources of carotenoids. In recent years, the production of carotenoids from bacteria has become of great interest for industrial applications. In addition to carotenoids with C40-skeletons, some bacteria have the ability to synthesize characteristic carotenoids with C30-skeletons. In this regard, a great variety of methodologies for the extraction and identification of bacterial carotenoids has been reported and this is the first review that condenses most of this information. To understand the diversity of carotenoids from bacteria, we present their biosynthetic origin in order to focus on the methodologies employed in their extraction and characterization. Special emphasis has been made on high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) for the analysis and identification of bacterial carotenoids. We end up this review showing their potential commercial use. This review is proposed as a guide for the identification of these metabolites, which are frequently reported in new bacteria strains.

Optimization of lutein production with a two-stage mixotrophic cultivation system with Chlorella sorokiniana MB-1

The major purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of operational factors and bioprocess strategies on the mixotrophic cultivation of a microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana MB-1 for lutein production. Aeration with CO₂ showed the highest biomass productivity and lutein productivity of 0.89 g/L/d and 3.49 mg/L/d, respectively. Semi-batch operation performed with 80% medium replacement ratio resulted in the highest biomass productivity and lutein productivity of 1.55 g/L/d and 5.51 mg/L/d, respectively. A two-stage strategy was developed to enhance the biomass production of the MB-1 strain in stage 1 with semi-batch mixotrophic culture and to optimize lutein accumulation in stage 2 under photoautotrophic conditions. The maximum biomass productivity and lutein productivity was 1.98 g/L/d and 7.62 mg/L/d, respectively, with a medium replacement ratio of 80% in stage 1. Compared with batch cultivation, the lutein productivity was enhanced by 32.7% for semi-batch operation alone and 85.9% for the semi-batch-integrated two-stage process.

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria Dietzia natronolimnaea modulates the expression of stress responsive genes providing protection of wheat from salinity stress

Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) hold promising future for sustainable agriculture. Here, we demonstrate a carotenoid producing halotolerant PGPR Dietzia natronolimnaea STR1 protecting wheat plants from salt stress by modulating the transcriptional machinery responsible for salinity tolerance in plants. The expression studies confirmed the involvement of ABA-signalling cascade, as TaABARE and TaOPR1 were upregulated in PGPR inoculated plants leading to induction of TaMYB and TaWRKY expression followed by stimulation of expression of a plethora of stress related genes. Enhanced expression of TaST, a salt stress-induced gene, associated with promoting salinity tolerance was observed in PGPR inoculated plants in comparison to uninoculated control plants. Expression of SOS pathway related genes (SOS1 and SOS4) was modulated in PGPR-applied wheat shoots and root systems. Tissue-specific responses of ion transporters TaNHX1, TaHAK, and TaHKT1, were observed in PGPR-inoculated plants. The enhanced gene expression of various antioxidant enzymes such as APX, MnSOD, CAT, POD, GPX and GR and higher proline content in PGPR-inoculated wheat plants contributed to increased tolerance to salinity stress. Overall, these results indicate that halotolerant PGPR-mediated salinity tolerance is a complex phenomenon that involves modulation of ABA-signalling, SOS pathway, ion transporters and antioxidant machinery.

Canthaxanthin biosynthesis by Dietzia natronolimnaea HS-1: effects of inoculation and aeration rate

The interest in production of natural colorants by microbial fermentation has been currently increased. The effects of D-glucose concentration (3.18-36.82 g/L), inoculum size (12.5 × 10(9)-49.5 × 10(9) cfu cells/mL) and air-flow rate (1.95-12.05 L/L min) on the biomass, total carotenoid and canthaxanthin (CTX) accumulation of Dietzia natronolimnaea HS-1 in a batch bioreactor was scrutinized using a response surface methodology-central composite rotatable design (RSM-CCRD). Second-order polynomial models with high R (2) values ranging from 0.978 to 0.990 were developed for the studied responses using multiple linear regression analysis. The models showed the maximum cumulative amounts of biomass (7.85 g/L), total carotenoid (5.48 mg/L) and CTX (4.99 mg/L) could be achieved at 23.38 g/L of D-glucose, 31.2 × 10(9) cfu cells/mL of inoculation intensity and air-flow rate of 7.85 L/L min. The predicted values for optimum conditions were in good agreement with experimental data.