Molecular Properties of β-Carotene Oxygenases and Their Potential in Industrial Production of Vitamin A and Its Derivatives

Abstract

β-Carotene 15,15′-oxygenase (BCO1) and β-carotene 9′,10′-oxygenase (BCO2) are potential producers of vitamin A derivatives, since they can catalyze the oxidative cleavage of dietary provitamin A carotenoids to retinoids and derivative such as apocarotenal. Retinoids are a class of chemical compounds that are vitamers of vitamin A or are chemically related to it, and are essential nutrients for humans and highly valuable in the food and cosmetics industries. β-carotene oxygenases (BCOs) from various organisms have been overexpressed in heterogeneous bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, and their biochemical properties have been studied. For the industrial production of retinal, there is a need for increased production of a retinal producer and biosynthesis of retinal using biocatalyst systems improved by enzyme engineering. The current review aims to discuss BCOs from animal, plants, and bacteria, and to elaborate on the recent progress in our understanding of their functions, biochemical properties, substrate specificity, and enzyme activities with respect to the production of retinoids in whole-cell conditions. Moreover, we specifically propose ways to integrate BCOs into retinal biosynthetic bacterial systems to improve the performance of retinal production.

Concurrent Production of α- and β-Carotenes with Different Stoichiometries Displaying Diverse Antioxidative Activities via Lycopene Cyclases-Based Rational System

“…Additionally, the outputs of α-carotene and β-carotene are severely limited due to low content, slow growth, and large land requirement of plants. To achieve higher yield, microbial production of α-carotene and β-carotene is a sustainable and feasible alternative to meet the health-supply demand, as it has the various advantages of an easy scale-up process, high productivity, and climate-independent pattern [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Previously, α-carotene and β-carotene have been successfully produced with high yields in Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium glutamicum by static engineering strategies [ 23 , 24 ].…”