PRODUCTION OF THE CAROTENOID LYCOPENE, BETA-CAROTENE, AND ASTAXANTHININ THE FOOD YEAST CANDIDA-UTILIS

The food-grade past Candida utilis has been engineered to confer a nov el biosynthetic pathway for the production of carotenoids such as lyco pene, beta-carotene, and astaxanthin. The exogenous carotenoid biosynt hesis genes were derived from the epiphytic bacterium Erwinia uredovor a and the marine bacterium Agrobacterium aurantiacum. The carotenoid b iosynthesis genes were individually modified based on the codon usage of the C. utilis glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase gene and exp ressed in C. utilis under the control of the constitutive promoters an d terminators derived from C. utilis. The resultant yeast strains accu mulated lycopene, beta-carotene, and astaxanthin in the cells at. 1.1, 0.4, and 0.4 mg per g (dry weight) of cells, respectively. This was c onsidered to be a result of the carbon flow into ergosterol biosynthes is being partially redirected to the nonendogenous pathway for caroten oid production.