Canthaxanthin biosynthesis by the conversion of methylene to keto groups in a hydrocarbon beta-carotene by a single gene

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1995 Apr 26;209(3):867-76. doi: 10.1006/bbrc.1995.1579.

Abstract

Compounds that include (a) keto group(s) in a molecule are ubiquitous natural components. A novel gene involved in ketocompound biosynthesis, designated crtW, was isolated from the marine bacteria Agrobacterium aurantiacum and Alcaligenes PC-1 that produce ketocarotenoids such as astaxanthin. When this gene was introduced into Escherichia coli that accumulated beta-carotene due to the Erwinia carotenogenic genes, the E. coli transformants synthesized canthaxanthin, one of ketocarotenoids, which was identified after purification by its visible, FD-MS and 1H-NMR spectral analysis. It has been demonstrated for the first time that one gene encodes an enzyme "ketolase" that catalyzes the conversion of methylene groups of a hydrocarbon beta-carotene to keto groups for synthesizing canthaxanthin via echinenone.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Alcaligenes / genetics
  • Alcaligenes / metabolism*
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacterial Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Canthaxanthin / biosynthesis*
  • Carotenoids / metabolism*
  • Chromosomes, Bacterial
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • DNA, Bacterial / isolation & purification
  • DNA, Bacterial / metabolism
  • Erwinia / genetics
  • Erwinia / metabolism
  • Escherichia coli / metabolism
  • Genes, Bacterial*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Oxygenases / biosynthesis
  • Oxygenases / chemistry
  • Oxygenases / metabolism*
  • Plasmids
  • Restriction Mapping
  • Rhizobium / genetics
  • Rhizobium / metabolism*
  • Seawater
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • beta Carotene

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA, Bacterial
  • beta Carotene
  • Carotenoids
  • Canthaxanthin
  • Oxygenases
  • beta-carotene ketolase