ISSN: 0973-7510

E-ISSN: 2581-690X

Samreena Baqal and Ujwala Jadhav
Department of Life Sciences, University of Mumbai, Santacruz (E), Mumbai – 400 098 India.
J Pure Appl Microbiol. 2012;6(2):927-930
© The Author(s). 2012
Received: 02/10/2011 | Accepted: 01/11/2011 | Published: 30/06/2012
Abstract

Carotenoids are chemical compounds, synthesized by plants, fungi, algae bacteria and yeast. Rhodotorula minuta (3359) is a yeast species (pink red in colour), producing various carotenoids such as beta-carotene, astaxanthin, torularhodine, and torulene. Beta-carotene acts as an anti-oxidant as well as increases pigmentation and colouration of organisms. To increase production of beta-carotene form Rhodotorula minuta, strain improvement program was carried out. To improve beta-carotene production physical and chemical mutagens are used, which block the biosynthesis of other carotenoids and so the golden colonies were formed. These colonies are selected for media optimisation to increase in production of beta-carotene from mutant Rhodotorula minuta.

Keywords

Carotenoid, Mutation, Torularhodine, Rhodotorula minuta, Beta-Carotene and UV Radiation

Article Metrics

Article View: 641

Share This Article

© The Author(s) 2012. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License which permits unrestricted use, sharing, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.