Heterologous production of the widely used natural food colorant carminic acid in Aspergillus nidulans

Scientific Reports
Rasmus J N FrandsenUffe H Mortensen

Abstract

The natural red food colorants carmine (E120) and carminic acid are currently produced from scale insects. The access to raw material is limited and current production is sensitive to fluctuation in weather conditions. A cheaper and more stable supply is therefore desirable. Here we present the first proof-of-concept of heterologous microbial production of carminic acid in Aspergillus nidulans by developing a semi-natural biosynthetic pathway. Formation of the tricyclic core of carminic acid is achieved via a two-step process wherein a plant type III polyketide synthase (PKS) forms a non-reduced linear octaketide, which subsequently is folded into the desired flavokermesic acid anthrone (FKA) structure by a cyclase and a aromatase from a bacterial type II PKS system. The formed FKA is oxidized to flavokermesic acid and kermesic acid, catalyzed by endogenous A. nidulans monooxygenases, and further converted to dcII and carminic acid by the Dactylopius coccus C-glucosyltransferase DcUGT2. The establishment of a functional biosynthetic carminic acid pathway in A. nidulans serves as an important step towards industrial-scale production of carminic acid via liquid-state fermentation using a microbial cell factory.

References

Jul 30, 1999·Nature Structural Biology·J L FerrerJ P Noel
Sep 8, 2001·Natural Product Reports·J Staunton, K J Weissman
Oct 27, 2004·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Longkuan XiangBradley S Moore
Nov 18, 2005·Fungal Genetics and Biology : FG & B·Michael L NielsenUffe H Mortensen
Mar 17, 2007·Microbial Ecology·Florian PankewitzYvonne Gräser
Dec 13, 2007·Biotechnic & Histochemistry : Official Publication of the Biological Stain Commission·R W Dapson
Mar 19, 2009·Accounts of Chemical Research·Abhirup Das, Chaitan Khosla
Sep 21, 2010·Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology·Xue GaoYi Tang
Dec 12, 2012·Microbial Cell Factories·Frank KoopmanJean-Marc Daran
Apr 30, 2013·Journal of the American Chemical Society·Yi-Ming ChiangBerl R Oakley
Mar 29, 2014·Biotechnology Journal·Irina Borodina, Jens Nielsen
Jan 1, 2012·Metabolites·Marie L KlejnstrupJakob B Nielsen
Feb 19, 2015·Ecology and Evolution·Michael G CampanaNoreen Tuross
Jul 19, 2017·Chembiochem : a European Journal of Chemical Biology·Johan Andersen-RanbergRubini Kannangara
Mar 20, 2018·Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology·Silas A RasmussenRasmus J N Frandsen

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Citations

Feb 6, 2020·Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology·Tadas JakočiūnasJay D Keasling
Apr 3, 2021·Journal of the American Chemical Society·Dongsoo YangSang Yup Lee

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Methods Mentioned

BETA
NMR
genetic modification
PCR

Software Mentioned

GenScript

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Central Nervous System Bacterial Infections

Central nervous system bacterial infections are medical emergencies and include bacterial meningitis and spinal epidural abscess. Treatment with antibiotics can reduce morbidity and mortality. Discover the latest research on central nervous system bacterial infections here.

© 2022 Meta ULC. All rights reserved