KAIST Researchers Engineer Microbe to Increase Lutein Production

A team of researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has successfully developed a microbial strain capable of producing lutein at a gram-per-liter scale through systems metabolic engineering strategies. The engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum will produce record-breaking levels of lutein that can be used in food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics.

The traditional extraction of lutein from marigold flowers has faced challenges such as long cultivation periods, low yield, and high labor costs. Led by Prof. Sang Yup Lee, the KAIST research team addressed these limitations by engineering C. glutamicum. Their approach focused on eliminating metabolic bottlenecks and employing enzyme scaffold-based electron channeling strategies to improve metabolic flux towards lutein biosynthesis.

The engineered C. glutamicum achieved a record-breaking production rate of 1.78 g/L within 54 hours, which is the highest lutein production performance in any host reported to date. This milestone not only marks a significant advancement in sustainable lutein production but also opens doors for the efficient microbial synthesis of other high-value natural products. The findings of the study, published in Nature Synthesis, offer a promising alternative method to the conventional plant-based lutein production.

For more information, read the article from KAIST.