Synthesis of Carotenoids of Industrial Interest in the Photosynthetic Bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris : Bioengineering and Growth Conditions

Eric Giraud (1) , Laure Hannibal (1) , Clémence Chaintreuil (1) , Joël Fardoux (1) , André Verméglio (2)

1 UMR LSTM - Laboratoire des symbioses tropicales et méditerranéennes
2 MEM - Microbiologie Environnementale et Moléculaire

Rhodopseudomonas palustris is a purple photosynthetic bacterium that accumulates in the inner membrane the photosynthetic pigment spirilloxanthin, formed from lycopene. Here, we describe the procedures used to successfully engineer Rps. palustris strains to reroute the production of lycopene toward the synthesis of ß-carotene or canthaxanthin. The crtCD genes specifically involved in spirilloxanthin were replaced by crtY and crtW genes from Bradyrhizobium ORS278 to synthesize ß-carotene and (or) canthaxanthin, two pigments of industrial interest. Since the synthesis of canthaxanthin depends on the presence of oxygen, the procedure to optimize their production is also proposed. By modulating the light and oxygen during the growth process, a single species of photosynthetic bacteria, with an efficient growth rate, produces various carotenoids of economical interest.

Keywords: Canthaxanthin; crt genes; Spirilloxanthin; Rhodopseudomonas palustris; Carotenoid; Genetic engineering; Light regulation; Lycopene; Oxygen regulation; Photosynthetic Bradyrhizobium; ß-Carotene

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Eric Giraud, Laure Hannibal, Clémence Chaintreuil, Joël Fardoux, André Verméglio. Synthesis of Carotenoids of Industrial Interest in the Photosynthetic Bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris : Bioengineering and Growth Conditions. Methods in Molecular Biology, 1852, Humana Press Inc., pp.211-220, 2018, Methods in Molecular Biology, 978-1-4939-8742-9; 978-1-4939-8741-2. ⟨10.1007/978-1-4939-8742-9_12⟩. ⟨cea-01951643⟩