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Proteomic analysis of astaxanthin biosynthesis in Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous in response to low carbon levels

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Abstract

The ratio of carbon to nitrogen (C/N) in media plays a crucial role in the production of microbial carotenoids. However, the effects of a high C/N ratio on carotenoid production are ambiguous, and the mechanism of how C/N ratio affects astaxanthin accumulation in X. dendrorhous is unclear. In this study, the influence of C/N ratio on astaxanthin biosynthesis in X. dendrorhous at a fixed nitrogen concentration was investigated, and comparative proteomics were applied to address how C/N ratio affects cell growth and astaxanthin accumulation in X. dendrorhous. The results showed that cell growth and astaxanthin accumulation in X. dendrorhous were strongly related to the ratio of carbon to nitrogen with increasing C/N ratio in medium. However, the astaxanthin content per cell showed an inverse relationship, decreasing with an increasing C/N ratio. Differential proteomics showed the proteins with highest degree of change in expression under varying C/N ratios were mainly involved in carbohydrate metabolic pathways and carotenogenesis metabolism. In addition, several redox- and stress-associated proteins were up-regulated along with the carotenogenesis proteins, implying the environmental stress may affect metabolism and astaxanthin synthesis. A possible regulatory mechanism in response to glucose in X. dendrorhous is discussed.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by grants from the Science and Technology Program of Xiamen, China (No. 3502Z20153005) and from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 20720160077). We thank Oceanography and Environmental Science of Xiamen University for assistance with the MALDI-TOF MS–MS analysis.

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Author notes

  1. Xueshan Pan and Baobei Wang have equally contributed to this work and are co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Xueshan Pan, Yinghua Lu & Xueping Ling

  2. The Key Lab for Synthetic Biotechnology of Xiamen City, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Yinghua Lu & Xueping Ling

  3. College of Oceanology and Food Science, Quanzhou Normal University, Quanzhou, 362000, China

    Baobei Wang

  4. Fujian Province Key Laboratory for the Development of Bioactive Material from Marine Algae, Quanzhou, 362000, China

    Baobei Wang

  5. Arizona Center for Algal Technology and Innovation, Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ, 85212, USA

    Henri G. Gerken

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  1. Xueshan Pan
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  2. Baobei Wang
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  3. Henri G. Gerken
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  4. Yinghua Lu
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Correspondence to Yinghua Lu or Xueping Ling.

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Pan, X., Wang, B., Gerken, H.G. et al. Proteomic analysis of astaxanthin biosynthesis in Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous in response to low carbon levels. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 40, 1091–1100 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-017-1771-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00449-017-1771-5

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