Micrococcus lylae MW407006 Pigment: Production, Optimization, Nano-Pigment Synthesis, and Biological Activities

Abstract

Bacterial pigments (e.g., melanin and carotenoids) are considered to be among the most important secondary metabolites due to their various pharmacological activities against cancer and microbial resistance. Different pigmented bacterial strains were isolated from soil samples from El Mahmoudiyah governance and screened for their antimicrobial activity. The most promising pigment producer was identified as Micrococcus lylae MW407006; furthermore, the produced pigment was identified as echinenone (β-carotene pigment). The pigment production was optimized through a central composite statistical design to maximize the biomass production, pigment concentration, and the antimicrobial activity. It was revealed that the most significant fermentation parameters were the glucose (as a carbon source) and asparagine (as a nitrogen source) concentrations. Nano-echinenone was synthesized using the ball milling technique, characterized, and finally assessed for potential antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antitumor activities. The data revealed that the synthesized nano-echinenone had higher antimicrobial activity than the crude pigment. The cytotoxic potency of echinenone and nano-echinenone was investigated in different cell lines (normal and cancer cells). The inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of cell death was observed in Caco-2 and Hep-G2 cells. The data proved that nano-echinenone is a suitable candidate for use as a safe antimicrobial and anti-hepatocellular-carcinoma agent.

Pigment production by a newly isolated strain Pycnoporus sanguineus SYBC-L7 in solid-state fermentation

“…Glucose was better for pigment synthesis, fructose was better for fungal growth, while, lower pigment production and biomass were obtained with β-cyclodextrin and starch. In accordance with our results, Zhao et al (2019) and Shahin et al (2022) stated that glucose was the optimum carbon source for pigment production.…”

“…Glucose was better for pigment synthesis, fructose was better for fungal growth, while, lower pigment production and biomass were obtained with β-cyclodextrin and starch. In accordance with our results, Zhao et al (2019) and Shahin et al (2022) stated that glucose was the optimum carbon source for pigment production. Nitrogen source, another essential building component, can influence microbial growth and the production of bioactive metabolites (Tudzynski, 2014;Landi et al, 2019;Darwesh et al, 2020).…”

Production of bioactive β-carotene by the endophytic bacterium Citricoccus parietis AUCs with multiple in vitro biological potentials

“…and Virgibacillus sp. were previously reported [ 16 , 26 , 27 ]. The ability of carotenoids to inhibit bacteria may be due to their ability to interact with proteins located in the outer membranes of bacterial cells, causing membrane damage that restricts the availability of nutrients needed for bacterial growth and, ultimately, results in bacterial death [ 28 , 29 ].…”

“…The optimum growth and pigment production by C. parietis AUCs were achieved in nutrient broth at pH 8, 35 °C after 72 h under 150 rpm. Many researchers have reported that the production of bacterial pigments is influenced by culture and environmental conditions [ 10 , 16 , 17 ].

Fig.6 Optimization of pigment production by C. parietis AUCs

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“…One-factor-at-a-time method [ 16 ] was used to determine the optimum parameters of pigment production by C. parietis AUCs. The effect of different parameters i.e., culture media (nutrient broth, trypticase soy broth, and potato dextrose broth), pH values (5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10), temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25,30, 35 and 40 °C), incubation periods (24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 h) and shaking rates (0 (static), 50, 100, 150 and 200 rpm) on the pigment production was evaluated.…”