Biotechnological Production of Astaxanthin through Metabolic Engineering of Yeasts. Issue 2 (25th February 2015) - Ye, Lidan
Abstract Astaxanthin is a highly valued carotenoid with growing market in aquaculture, food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. The market demand for bio‐derived astaxanthin and the insufficient efficiency of astaxanthin biosynthesis drive the advances in metabolic engineering of native astaxanthin producers and heterologous hosts. The recent research progress in engineering of astaxanthin biosynthesis in the red‐pigmented heterobasidiomycetous yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous, the food‐grade noncarotenogenic yeast Candida utilis, the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica and the chassis organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae is reviewed, the advances in the development of pathway engineering tools are discussed, and future strategies for further improving biotechnological production of astaxanthin in yeasts are proposed.