Advances in engineering the production of the natural red pigment lycopene: A systematic review from a biotechnology perspective

Abstract

Background: Lycopene is a natural red compound with potent antioxidant activity that can be utilized both as pigment and as a raw material in functional food, and so possesses good commercial prospects. The biosynthetic pathway has already been documented, which provides the foundation for lycopene production using biotechnology.

Aim of review: Although lycopene production has begun to take shape, there is still an urgent need to alleviate the yield of lycopene. Progress in this area can provide useful reference for metabolic engineering of lycopene production utilizing multiple approaches.

Key scientific concepts of review: Using conventional microbial fermentation approaches, biotechnologists have enhanced the yield of lycopene by selecting suitable host strains, utilizing various additives, and optimizing culture conditions. With the development of modern biotechnology, genetic engineering, protein engineering, and metabolic engineering have been applied for lycopene production. Extraction from natural plants is the main way for lycopene production at present. Based on the molecular mechanism of lycopene accumulation, the production of lycopene by plant bioreactor through genetic engineering has a good prospect. Here we summarized common strategies for optimizing lycopene production engineering from a biotechnology perspective, which are mainly carried out by microbial cultivation. We reviewed the challenges and limitations of this approach, summarized the critical aspects, and provided suggestions with the aim of potential future breakthroughs for lycopene production in plants.

Keywords: Fermentation; Genetic engineering; Lycopene; Metabolic pathway; Plants.

Graphical abstract

Fig. 1

General structure and main isomer configurations of lycopene. Red and blue color bonds in the structural formular in the central part represent conjugated double bonds and unconjugated double bonds, respectively.

Fig. 2

Publication trends of lycopene in the last 25 years. Keyword ‘lycopene’ was used for searching in the ‘NCBI PubMed’ database.

Fig. 3

Distribution of lycopene in nature. LDL, low-density lipoproteins; HDL, high-density lipoproteins; VLDL, very-low-density lipoproteins.

Fig. 4

Carotenoid biosynthesis via the MVA or MEP pathway. The yellow line shows reactions occurring in plastids. Compounds in the pathway are represented by black letters. Names of plant enzymes are in blue, those of bacterial are in green. Numbers in the yellow boxes represent carbon shelf structures. The green box shows the plant hormones used GGPP as precursors. The red box displays the biosynthesis of lycopene derivative bixin.

Fig. 5

Schematic diagram of lycopene microbial fermentation production.