Enhancement of carotenogenesis by Blakeslea trispora in a mixed culture with bacteria.

Among carotenoids, ꞵ-carotene has the highest biological activity and is found as an all-trans isomer in many biological systems. Blakeslea trispora is a microorganism that is of interest to industries for the commercial production of ꞵ-carotene. This study investigated the effect of different bacteria on carotenogenesis in B. trispora. The B. trispora bisexual mold was cultured in a production medium, and different bacterial cells were added to it after 24 h. Then, the culture conditions and the culture medium were optimized in the presence of the selected bacteria using the experimental design. The percentage of carotenoids obtained from the mixed culture was determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results showed that Kocuria rhizophila had the greatest effect on increasing the production of carotenoids in B. trispora. The highest content of carotenoids obtained during optimization was 770 ± 7.5 mg/L, a 6.8-fold increase compared to the control. HPLC analysis of carotenoids indicated the presence of two main peaks, ꞵ-carotene and -carotene, in which the primary carotenoid was ꞵ-carotene followed by -carotene with a lower content. Therefore, due to the importance of ꞵ-carotene in industry, the use of biostimulants is one of the appropriate strategies to increase the production of this pigment in industry.