The apocarotenoid production in microbial biofactories: An overview

• Published in: Journal of biotechnology 2023-09, Vol.374, p.5-16
• Main Authors: Varghese, Ressin, Buragohain, Tinamoni, Banerjee, Ishani, Mukherjee, Rishyani, Penshanwar, Shraddha Naresh, Agasti, Swapna, Ramamoorthy, Siva
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Apocarotenoids; Biofactories; Carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs); Carotenoids; Genetic engineering; Microbes
• ISSN: 0168-1656; 1873-4863
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2023.07.009

Carotenoids are a vast group of natural pigments that come in a variety of colors ranging from red to orange. Apocarotenoids are derived from these carotenoids, which are hormones, pigments, retinoids, and volatiles employed in the textiles, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, and food industries. Due to the high commercial value and poor natural host abundance, they are significantly undersupplied. Microbes like Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Escherichia coli act as heterologous hosts for apocarotenoid production. This article briefly reviews categories of apocarotenoids, their biosynthetic pathway commencing from the MVA and MEP, its significance, the tool enzymes for apocarotenoid biosynthesis like CCDs, their biotechnological production in microbial factories, and future perspectives. •Apocarotenoids are commercially valuable due to their impeccable coloring volatile and therapeutical properties.•There are drawbacks in their large scale production due to the tedious, time-consuming extraction procedures and limited yield.•Microbes are a promising resource for their production by the efficient incorporation of genetic engineering approaches.