Abstract
Mutagenic treatment with N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) inPhaffia rhodozyma generated 15 mutants with a wide diversity of color variants ranging from white to dark red. Characterization of the mutants by absorption spectra, TLC and HPLC was performed. Two categories could be distinguished: astaxanthin hyperproducing and astaxanthin hypoproducing mutants. Hyperproducing mutants exhibited considerable increases in astaxanthin content whereas hypoproducing mutants showed higher β-carotene contents than the wild-type strain. The characterization of carotenoid mutants inP. rhodozyma could contribute to the knowledge of the biosynthetic pathway of astaxanthin production of this microorganism.
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Rubinstein, L., Altamirano, A., Santopietro, L.D. et al. Isolation and characterization ofPhaffia rhodozyma mutants. Folia Microbiol 43, 626–630 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02816380
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02816380