Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 May;15(5):129.
doi: 10.1007/s13205-025-04290-w. Epub 2025 Apr 16.

Enhanced pigment production from plants and microbes: a genome editing approach

P Harshini #  1 , Ressin Varghese #  1 , Kannan Pachamuthu  1 , Siva Ramamoorthy  1
Affiliations
Review

Enhanced pigment production from plants and microbes: a genome editing approach

P Harshini et al. 3 Biotech. 2025 May.

Abstract

Pigments are known for their vital roles in the growth and development of plants and microbes. In addition, they are also an imperative component of several industries, including textiles, foods, and pharmaceuticals, owing to their immense colours and therapeutic potential. Conventionally, pigments are obtained from plant resources, and the advent of in-vitro propagation techniques boosted the massive production. However, it could not meet the booming demand, leading to the incorporation of new genetic engineering tools. This review focuses on the role of various genetic engineering techniques in enhancing pigment production in plants and microorganisms. It also critically analyzes the efficacy and bottlenecks of these techniques in augmenting pigment biosynthesis. Furthermore, the use of microbes as pigment biofactories and the prospects in the field of genome editing to augment pigment synthesis are discussed. The limitations in the existing techniques underline the need for advanced genome editing strategies to broaden the mass production of pigments to meet the surging needs.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas; Genome editing; Pigments; TALENs; ZFNs.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors have no potential conflicts to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

References

    1. Adamczyk PA, Reed JL (2017) Escherichia coli as a model organism for systems metabolic engineering. Curr Opinion Syst Biol 6:8–88
    1. Al-Babili S, Ye X, Lucca P, Potrykus I, Beyer P (2001) Biosynthesis of beta-carotene (provitamin A) in rice endosperm achieved by genetic engineering. Novartis Found Symp 236:219–232 - PubMed
    1. Anjusha S, Gangaprasad A (2017) Callus culture and in vitro production of anthraquinone in Gynochthodmbellateata (L.) Razafim. & B. Bremer (Rubiaceae). Ind Crops Prod 95:608–614
    1. Apel W, Bock R (2009) Enhancement of carotenoid biosynthesis in transplastomic tomatoes by induced lycopene-to-provitamin A conversion. Plant Physiol 151(1):59–66 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ashokhan S, Ramasamy S, Karsani SA et al (2018) Analysis of bioactive pigments in coloured callus of Azadirachta indica for possible use as functional natural colourants. Pigment & Resin Technol 48:9–19

LinkOut - more resources