94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Bioprocess Engineering
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1516522
Response surface-based media optimization for astaxanthin production in Corynebacterium glutamicum
Provisionally accepted- 1 Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
- 2 Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
Astaxanthin is a C40 carotenoid that is used in animal feeds or cosmetics. Due to its high antioxidant property it is used for, e.g., anti-aging formulations and due to its intense red color it is used, e.g., in animal feed. While most about 95% of commercial astaxanthin is currently chemically synthesized from fossil sources, the interest in natural and sustainable astaxanthin is growing. Corynebacterium glutamicum, an attractive host used in large-scale processes, e.g., industrial amino acid production has been engineered for astaxanthin production. Here, a design of experiment (DoEDOE) approach was applied to optimize the standard minimal medium for astaxanthin production. The concentrations of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus sources, magnesium, calcium, the iron chelator protocatechuic acid, the vitamin biotin, and the trace metals were varied and astaxanthin production was evaluated. By increasing the concentration of iron and decreasing that of manganese especially, it was possible to increase astaxanthin titers from 7.9 mg L -1 to 39.6 mg L -1 in a micro cultivation system and from 62 mg L -1 to 176 mg L -1 in a fed-batch fermentation.
Keywords: astaxanthin, Carotenoids, Media optimization, Design of Experiment, Corynebacterium glutamicum
Received: 24 Oct 2024; Accepted: 17 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Meyer, Schmitt, WENDISCH and Henke. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Nadja A Henke, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.