Abstract
A mutant strain of Mycobacterium aurum was isolated that produced mainly lycopene (>80%) with a total carotenoid content of 1.2 mg g−1 dry biomass when grown on yeast extract and glucose. Lycopene content of the cells could be significantly increased, up to 7.4 mg g−1 biomass, by growing the cells at suboptimal initial culture pH (pH 6–6.4) or by using high salt concentration (85 mm NaCl) in the culture medium, although a 25–40% decrease in biomass production occurred in both cases. Highest productivity (4 mg lycopene l−1 d−1) was obtained by cultivating the cells at pH 6.
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Kerr, S., Calé, C., Cabral, J. et al. Factors enhancing lycopene production by a new Mycobacterium aurum mutant. Biotechnology Letters 26, 103–108 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BILE.0000012886.32311.4e
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:BILE.0000012886.32311.4e