Modular engineering for microbial production of carotenoids
Author(s)
Li, Cheng; Swofford, Charles A.; Sinskey, Anthony J.
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There is an increasing demand for carotenoids due to their applications in the food, flavor, pharmaceutical and feed industries, however, the extraction and synthesis of these compounds can be expensive and technically challenging. Microbial production of carotenoids provides an attractive alternative to the negative environmental impacts and cost of chemical synthesis or direct extraction from plants. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches have been widely utilized to reconstruct and optimize pathways for carotenoid overproduction in microorganisms. This review summarizes the current advances in microbial engineering for carotenoid production and divides the carotenoid biosynthesis building blocks into four distinct metabolic modules: 1) central carbon metabolism, 2) cofactor metabolism, 3) isoprene supplement metabolism and 4) carotenoid biosynthesis. These four modules focus on redirecting carbon flux and optimizing cofactor supplements for isoprene precursors needed for carotenoid synthesis. Future perspectives are also discussed to provide insights into microbial engineering principles for overproduction of carotenoids.
Date issued
2020-06Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of BiologyJournal
Metabolic Engineering Communications
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
Li, Cheng, Charles A. Swofford and Anthony J. Sinskey. "Modular engineering for microbial production of carotenoids." Metabolic Engineering Communications 10 (2020): e00118 © 2020 The Author(s)
Version: Final published version
ISSN
2214-0301