Production of carotenoids in oleaginous yeast and fungi
View Patent ↗The present invention provides systems for producing engineered oleaginous yeast or fungi that express carotenoids.
1. A method of producing a carotenoid, the method comprising cultivating a genetically engineered Yarrowia fungus under conditions that allow production of the carotenoid;
wherein the genetically engineered Yarrowia fungus is characterized by:
i. the fungus is oleaginous in that it can accumulate lipid to at least about 20% of its dry cell weight; and
ii. as a result of the genetic engineering, the Yarrowia fungus produces at least one carotenoid, and can accumulate the produced carotenoid to at least about 1% of its dry cell weight.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises a second step of isolating the produced carotenoid.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the step of isolating comprises fractionating the cultivation medium to obtain at least one carotenoid-enriched fraction.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein: the step of cultivating comprises cultivating the fungus under conditions that allow accumulation of the carotenoid in cytoplasmic oil bodies; and the step of isolating comprises isolating oil derived from the cytoplasmic oil bodies.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the carotenoid is selected from the group consisting of astaxanthin, β-carotene, canthaxanthin, zeaxanthin, lutein, lycopene, and combinations thereof.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the carotenoid comprises astaxanthin.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the carotenoid comprises β-carotene.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the carotenoid comprises canthaxanthin.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the carotenoid comprises zeaxanthin.
10. The carotenoid produced by the method of claim 1 .