Biotechnological Production of the Sunscreen Pigment Scytonemin in Cyanobacteria: Progress and Strategy

Marine Drugs

Peter Lindblad¹  Xufeng Liu¹  Xiang Gao²  Xin Jing² 

[1] Microbial Chemistry, Department of Chemistry-Ångstrom, Uppsala University, Box 523, 751 20 Uppsala, Sweden;School of Food and Biological Engineering, Shaanxi University of Science & Technology, Xi’an 710021, China;

关键词: cyanobacteria;    sunscreen pigments;    scytonemin;    metabolic engineering;   

DOI  :  10.3390/md19030129

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Scytonemin is a promising UV-screen and antioxidant small molecule with commercial value in cosmetics and medicine. It is solely biosynthesized in some cyanobacteria. Recently, its biosynthesis mechanism has been elucidated in the model cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme PCC 73102. The direct precursors for scytonemin biosynthesis are tryptophan and p-hydroxyphenylpyruvate, which are generated through the shikimate and aromatic amino acid biosynthesis pathway. More upstream substrates are the central carbon metabolism intermediates phosphoenolpyruvate and erythrose-4-phosphate. Thus, it is a long route to synthesize scytonemin from the fixed atmospheric CO₂ in cyanobacteria. Metabolic engineering has risen as an important biotechnological means for achieving sustainable high-efficiency and high-yield target metabolites. In this review, we summarized the biochemical properties of this molecule, its biosynthetic gene clusters and transcriptional regulations, the associated carbon flux-driving progresses, and the host selection and biosynthetic strategies, with the aim to expand our understanding on engineering suitable cyanobacteria for cost-effective production of scytonemin in future practices.

【 授权许可】

Unknown