Simultaneous Production of Cellulase and β-Carotene in the Filamentous Fungus Trichoderma reesei

Abstract

β-Carotene is an indispensable additive in beverage, cosmetic, feed, and pharmaceutical production. The fermentation industry annually generates abundant waste mycelia from Trichoderma reesei (T. reesei), a pivotal industrial strain for cellulase and heterologous protein production. In this study, we constructed a T. reesei cell factory for β-carotene production for the first time.Four key enzymes, CarRP, CarB, GGS1/CrtE, and HMG1, were overexpressed in T. reesei. The concentrations of medium components, including tryptone and glucose, were optimized. The modified strain accumulated β-carotene at a titer of 218.8 mg/L in flask culture. We achieved cellulase production (FPase, 22.33 IU/mL) with the concomitant production of β-carotene (286.63 mg/L) from T. reesei in a jar. Overall, this study offers a novel and unique approach to address the costly waste mycelium management process using T. reesei industrial strains that simultaneously produce proteins and carotenoids.

Improvement of Laccase Activity in Co-Culture of Panus lecomtei and Sporidiobolus pararoseus and Its Application as an Enzymatic Additive in Biomass Hydrolysis and Dye Decolorization

“…Contrary to the laccases, cellulases from P. lecomtei did not seem to respond to stimulatory compounds, such as β-carotene, in the cultivation conditions carried out with S. pararoseus, and it did affect negatively when cultivated with T. reesei alone. However, there are reports stating that both ROS and β-carotene could influence positively cellulase production, even though the mechanism is still not fully understood [25][26][27]. Therefore, further studies are necessary to elucidate the relationship between these compounds and cellulase production in the co-culture of TrSp and PlSp.…”