Strategy and regulatory mechanisms of glutamate feeding to enhance astaxanthin yield in Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous

Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous is an excellent industrial source for production of natural astaxanthin, but the yield of astaxanthin is relative low due to the contradiction between biomass weight and astaxanthin accumulation. Glutamate, a metabolite connecting nitrogen and carbon metabolisms, is probably a promising entry point to interfere cellular metabolisms. Thus, the effect of glutamate on cell growth and astaxanthin accumulation in X. dendrorhous was investigated. Results showed that glutamate feeding facilitated glucose consumption and further led to the increment of astaxanthin content with little influence of cell growth. A comparative proteomics study was applied to decipher the regulatory mechanisms of enhanced astaxanthin biosynthesis in X. dendrorhous as a response to the glutamate feeding. The expressions of proteins with the highest degree of fold change were involved in carbohydrate, amino acids, and carotenogenesis metabolisms as well as redox and stress-associated metabolisms. In addition, a possible regulatory model of enhanced astaxanthin accumulation in response to glutamate feeding in X. dendrorhous is also proposed.