Carotenoid production by filamentous fungi and yeasts
Publicated to:Biotechnology Of Yeasts And Filamentous Fungi. 225-279 - 2017-01-01 (), DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-58829-2_8
Authors: Avalos J; Nordzieke S; Parra O; Pardo-Medina J; Limón MC
Affiliations
Abstract
Carotenoids are widespread pigments in nature, obtained by direct synthesis or by ingestion in all taxonomic groups, and playing a large diversity of biological functions. Carotenoid biosynthesis is frequently found in fungi, and the amenability of some producing species to research studies has made them ideal models to investigate the genes and enzymes involved in the biosynthesis and its regulation. Best known examples are those for the production of β-carotene by the mucorales Phycomyces blakesleeanus, Mucor circinelloides, and Blakeslea trispora, neurosporaxanthin by the ascomycetes Neurospora crassa and Fusarium fujikuroi, and astaxanthin by the basidiomycete yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous, formerly Phaffia rhodozyma. Because of their coloring and healthpromoting properties, some carotenoids have biotechnological applications, usually as food or feed additives. In the case of the fungi, the biotechnological studies have been mostly centered on the productions of β-carotene or its red precursor lycopene by B. trispora and astaxanthin by X. dendrorhous, extended to the heterologous expression of the relevant genes in non-carotenogenic yeasts as potentially favorable industrial producers. Less attention has been addressed to the synthesis of other carotenoids, with the only exception of torularhodin, produced by Rhodotorula and other related basidiomycete yeasts, but the genetics of its biosynthesis has not been investigated. © Springer International Publishing AG 2017.
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From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 2.15, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)
Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-21, the following number of citations:
- Scopus: 26