Construction of new Pichia pastoris X-33 strains for production of lycopene and β-carotene.

In this study, we used the non-carotenogenic yeast Pichia pastoris X33 as a receptor for β-carotene-encoding genes, in order to obtain new recombinant strains capable of producing different carotenoidic compounds. We designed and constructed two plasmids, pGAPZA-EBI* and pGAPZA-EBI*L*, containing the genes encoding lycopene and β-carotene, respectively. Plasmid pGAPZA-EBI*, expresses three genes, crtE, crtB, and crtI*, that encode three carotenogenic enzymes, geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase, phytoene synthase, and phytoene desaturase, respectively.

Influence of culture conditions of Gordonia jacobaea MV-26 on canthaxanthin production.

Commercial interest in the use of natural pigments isolated from microorganisms has increased in recent years; hence, molecules belonging to the polyisoprenoid group (i.e. beta-carotene, astaxanthin, and canthaxanthin) have been the focus of much attention.