High-yield zeaxanthin production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii via advanced metabolic pathway engineering.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Zeaxanthin is a yellow xanthophyll naturally found in plants and algae, where it plays a crucial role in light absorption and photoprotection. In mammals, ingestion of zeaxanthin through the diet is essential as it accumulates in the retina where it absorbs excessive blue light to protect photoreceptors from photooxidative stress. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an established model organism for pigment biosynthesis and bioengineering. Previous studies developed double knockout mutants (dzl) using CRISPR-Cas9 to eliminate ZEP and LCYE genes, achieving zeaxanthin production up to 6.84 mg/L with medium optimization. However, these approaches have not explored additional enzyme overexpression strategies combined with advanced cultivation techniques, leaving significant potenti

SUBMITTER: Jang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12273266 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature