When pT-LYCm4 containing lycopene synthetic genes was co-transformed with pSUcrtY orpSHcrtY containing
crtY gene of
Pantoea ananatis (
P. ananatis) or
Pantoea agglomerans (
P.agglomerans),
-carotene productions of 36 and 35 mg/L were obtained, respectively. Nolycopene was detected in the
-carotene production culture. pT-HB, constructed by addition of
P. ananatis crtY gene into pT-LYCm4, was used for co-transformation with pSdxs andpSSN12Didi, which increased isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate synthesis.
-Carotene production significantly increased 1.5-fold (51 mg/L) with the amplification of the
dxs gene through pSdxs and 4-fold (135 mg/L) with the mevalonate bottom pathway ofpSSN12Didi in the presence of 3.3 mM mevalonate. The pT-DHB, constructed by integratingthe
dxs gene into pT-HB, was used for cotransformation of
Escherichia coli (
E. coli) harboringpSSN12Didi, resulting in
-carotene production of 141 mg/L. Recombinant
E. coli harboringpT-DHB and pSSN12Didi was used to maximize
-carotene production by adjusting the availableamounts of glycerol, a carbon source, and mevalonate, the precursor of the mevalonate bottompathway. When recombinant
E. coli was given 16.5 mM mevalonate and 2.5% (w/v) glycerol,
-carotene production of 503 mg/L in concentration and 49.3 mg/g DCW in content was obtainedat 144 h, which was the highest level of carotenoid production in
E. coli ever reported in theliterature.