Metabolic Engineering of Different Microbial Hosts for Lycopene Production

Abstract

As a result of the extensive use of lycopene in a variety of fields, especially the dietary supplement and health food industries, the production of lycopene has attracted considerable interest. Lycopene can be obtained through extraction from vegetables and chemical synthesis. Alternatively, the microbial production of lycopene has been extensively researched in recent years. Various types of microbial hosts have been evaluated for their potential to accumulate a high level of lycopene. Metabolic engineering of the hosts and optimization of culture conditions are performed to enhance lycopene production. After years of research, great progress has been made in lycopene production. In this review, strategies used to improve lycopene production in different microbial hosts and the advantages and disadvantages of each microbial host are summarized. In addition, future perspectives of lycopene production in different microbial hosts are discussed.

Real‐Time Monitoring of Dynamic Microbial Fe(III) Respiration Metabolism with a Living Cell‐Compatible Electron‐Sensing Probe

“…R. palustris was reported as a microbial host for lycopene production [31] . As illustrated in Figure 6a, lycopene is naturally produced by the condensation of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) through carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in R. palustris .…”

“…R. palustris was reported as a microbial host for lycopene production. [31] As illustrated in Figure 6a, lycopene is naturally produced by the condensation of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) through carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in R. palustris. The R. palustris-S. putrefaciens microbial co-culture with different bacteria ratios under light irradiation all show improved lycopene biosynthesis efficiency compared with bare R. palustris (Figure S30), and the improved biosynthesis efficiency coincidences with accelerated Fe redox cycling metabolism in microbial co-culture.…”

Enhanced CO2 capture for photosynthetic lycopene production in engineered Rhodopseudomonas palustris, a purple nonsulfur bacterium

“…Multiple kinds of heterotrophic microbes, such as Escherichia coli , yeast and fungi, have been explored for their potential to produce lycopene. 1 However, these heterotrophic microorganisms have some limitations, such as the requirement of carbohydrates as feedstocks, which would lead to competition for food sources with humans. Moreover, carbon loss was inevitable during cellular metabolism in heterotrophic microorganisms, such as CO 2 release during cell respiration and inorganic acid (mainly acetate) formation as a by-product.…”

“…Lycopene, a naturally occurring carotenoid that is red in color, has been widely used in drug, cosmetic, and food industries, due to its anti-oxidative, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. 1 Lycopene can be obtained through three strat-egies: extraction from plants, chemical synthesis and microbial production. Extraction from plants, mainly tomato, is a traditional and widely applied strategy for lycopene production.…”

Whole-Cell Biosensors Aid Exploration of Vanillin Transmembrane Transport

“…Metabolic engineering of cell factories to synthesize natural products has been widely studied. − In addition to heterologous biosynthetic enzymes, the metabolic network of host cells plays important roles in biosynthesis, such as contributing precursors, cofactors, energy, and transporters. − Thus, extensive optimization is required to efficiently direct intracellular resources to product formation. Apart from numerous targeted metabolic engineering strategies, directed genome evolution has marked potential in cell factory engineering since many genomic targets indirectly affect biosynthesis.…”