Marine produce zeaxanthin via the mevalonate pathway.

Unlabelled: Zeaxanthin, an oxygenated carotenoid derivative with potent antioxidative properties, is produced by many organism taxa. are widely distributed in marine environments; however, the zeaxanthin biosynthesis property in this family remains incompletely explored. Here, we characterized zeaxanthin production by marine strains and elucidated underlying molecular mechanisms. Eight strains were isolated from the phycosphere of various dinoflagellates. Analyses of the zeaxanthin production in these strains revealed yields ranging from 5 to 3289 µg/g of dry cell weight. Genomic and molecular biology analyses revealed the biosynthesized zeaxanthin through the mevalonate (MVA) pathway diverging from the 2--methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) pathway commonly observed in most Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, comprehensive genome analyses of 322 culturable marine Flavobacteriale strains indicated that the majority of members possess the potential to synthesize zeaxanthin using precursors derived from the MVA pathway. These data provide insight into the zeaxanthin biosynthesis property in marine strains, highlighting their ecological and biotechnological relevance.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42995-024-00268-4.