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Purification and characterization of indochrome type blue pigment produced by Pseudarthrobacter sp. 34LCH1 isolated from Atacama desert

  • Natural Products - Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

The interest in and demand for natural dyes has increased significantly in recent years; however, very few natural blue dyes are commercially available, because blue colored compounds in nature are relatively rare. In this study, a blue pigment-producing bacteria from Lake Chungará (Atacama Desert, Chile) was isolated, and its blue pigment was purified and chemically characterized. The pigment-producing strain was identified as Pseudarthrobacter sp. by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The pigment was separated from the filtered culture medium by column chromatography/solid-phase extraction using different resins (ionic exchange, C-18, size exclusion). The strain produced up to 2.5 g L−1 of blue pigment, which was very soluble in water, partially soluble in methanol and insoluble in other organic solvents. The pigment was analyzed and characterized by analytical HPLC, UV–Vis, FT-IR, and H-NMR, and purified by semi-preparative HPLC. The pigment was non-toxic to brine shrimp (LD50 > 2.3 g L−1) and was stable at pH 6–10 at temperatures below 60 °C. HPLC analysis shows that the pigment is composed of four major blue fractions. The physicochemical properties and structural analysis demonstrate that this pigment belongs to the indochrome isomers, whose properties have yet to have been characterized. The high solubility in water, good stability in neutral and basic pH, and negligible toxicity of the blue pigment make it a good candidate suitable for several industrial and possibly some food applications.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Matthew Lee for his support for the review of this manuscript. This work was supported by Innova CORFO-Chile (IDL2-18532) and Internal Research Project on Applied Science of the Universidad de Los Lagos, not existing conflicts of interest with funding source.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Medicina y Ciencia, Universidad San Sebastián, Lago Panguipulli 1390, 5501842, Puerto Montt, Chile

    Sebastian Finger

  2. Centro i-mar, Universidad de Los Lagos, Camino a Chinquihue s/n km 6, Puerto Montt, Chile

    Félix A. Godoy & Geraldine Wittwer

  3. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Los Lagos, Av. Fuchslocher 1305, Osorno, Chile

    Carlos P. Aranda

  4. Centro de Investigación en Recursos Naturales y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Bernardo O‘Higgins, Fábrica 1990, Santiago, Chile

    Raúl Calderón

  5. Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, INIA La Platina, Santa Rosa 11610, Santiago, Chile

    Raúl Calderón

  6. Laboratorio de Patobiología Acuática, Departamento de Acuicultura, Universidad Católica del Norte, Larrondo 1281, Coquimbo, Chile

    Claudio D. Miranda

Authors
  1. Sebastian Finger
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  2. Félix A. Godoy
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  3. Geraldine Wittwer
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  4. Carlos P. Aranda
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Félix A. Godoy.

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Finger, S., Godoy, F.A., Wittwer, G. et al. Purification and characterization of indochrome type blue pigment produced by Pseudarthrobacter sp. 34LCH1 isolated from Atacama desert. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 46, 101–111 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-018-2088-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-018-2088-3

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