León Rosa, Martín Marta, Vigara Javier, Vilchez Carlos, Vega José María
Dpt. de Química y CC MM (Area de Bioquímica), Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Campus del Carmen, Universidad de Huelva, 21071 Huelva, Spain.
Biomol Eng. 2003 Jul;20(4-6):177-82. doi: 10.1016/s1389-0344(03)00048-0.
Improving productivity is a usual requirement for most biotechnological processes, and the utilisation of two-phase aqueous organic systems has proved to be an effective way to improve the productivity of poorly water-soluble or toxic compounds. The high hydrophobicity of beta-carotene, which is highly demanded by the pharma and agrofood industry, makes it a good candidate for aqueous/organic biphasic photoproduction. In the present work we have investigated the viability of a two-phase system for the production of beta-carotene by the marine microalgae Dunaliella salina using decane as organic phase. Decane, with a logP(octanol) value of 5.6, showed no toxicity to Dunaliella cells for more than 72 h, and its ability for beta-carotene extraction is acceptable. Transferring Dunaliella cells from standard to carotenogenic conditions caused inhibition of chlorophyll production and induced a strong synthesis of beta-carotene. The two-phase aqueous/decane system was stable and beta-carotene content of the cells was increasing during 4-days. About 8% of the total carotenoids produced were excreted and extracted into the decane phase.
提高生产率是大多数生物技术过程的常见要求，而利用双相水-有机体系已被证明是提高难溶性或有毒化合物生产率的有效方法。制药和农业食品行业对β-胡萝卜素的需求量很大，其高疏水性使其成为水/有机双相光生产的良好候选物。在本研究中，我们研究了以癸烷为有机相，利用海洋微藻盐生杜氏藻生产β-胡萝卜素的双相体系的可行性。癸烷的logP（辛醇）值为5.6，在72小时以上对盐生杜氏藻细胞无毒性，其β-胡萝卜素提取能力也可接受。将盐生杜氏藻细胞从标准条件转移到产胡萝卜素条件会抑制叶绿素的产生，并诱导β-胡萝卜素的强烈合成。水/癸烷双相体系稳定，细胞中的β-胡萝卜素含量在4天内不断增加。所产生的总类胡萝卜素中约8%被排泄并提取到癸烷相中。
