Karl-Winnacker-Institut, Frankfurt, Germany.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2011 Feb;89(3):555-71. doi: 10.1007/s00253-010-2976-6. Epub 2010 Nov 3.
The oxygenated β-carotene derivative astaxanthin exhibits outstanding colouring, antioxidative and health-promoting properties and is mainly found in the marine environment. To satisfy the growing demand for this ketocarotenoid in the feed, food and cosmetics industries, there are strong efforts to develop economically viable bioprocesses alternative to the current chemical synthesis. However, up to now, natural astaxanthin from Haematococcus pluvialis, Phaffia rhodozyma or Paracoccus carotinifaciens has not been cost competitive with chemically synthesized astaxanthin, thus only serving niche applications. This review illuminates recent advances made in elucidating astaxanthin biosynthesis in P. rhodozyma. It intensely focuses on strategies to increase astaxanthin titers in the heterobasidiomycetous yeast by genetic engineering of the astaxanthin pathway, random mutagenesis and optimization of fermentation processes. This review emphasizes the potential of P. rhodozyma for the biotechnological production of astaxanthin in comparison to other natural sources such as the microalga H. pluvialis, other fungi and transgenic plants and to chemical synthesis.
含氧 β-胡萝卜素衍生物虾青素具有出色的着色、抗氧化和促进健康的特性，主要存在于海洋环境中。为了满足饲料、食品和化妆品行业对这种类胡萝卜素不断增长的需求，人们正在努力开发经济可行的生物工艺，以替代当前的化学合成方法。然而，到目前为止，来自雨生红球藻、红发夫酵母或类球红细菌的天然虾青素在成本上还无法与化学合成的虾青素竞争，因此只能应用于利基市场。本文综述了红发夫酵母虾青素生物合成的最新研究进展。本文重点介绍了通过对虾青素途径进行基因工程、随机诱变和发酵过程优化来提高红发夫酵母虾青素产量的策略。与其他天然来源（如微藻雨生红球藻、其他真菌和转基因植物）和化学合成相比，本文强调了红发夫酵母在生物技术生产虾青素方面的潜力。
