Issue 7, 2017

Orange, red, yellow: biosynthesis of azaphilone pigments in Monascus fungi

Abstract

Monascus azaphilone pigments (MonAzPs) are very widely used as food colorants, but their biosynthetic pathway has remained poorly characterized for more than half a century. In this study, the individual steps of MonAzPs biosynthesis in Monascus ruber M7 were elucidated by a combination of targeted gene knockouts, heterologous gene expression, and in vitro chemical and enzymatic reactions. This study describes the first rational engineering of MonAzPs biosynthesis and provides a roadmap for future pathway engineering efforts directed towards the selective production of the most valuable pigments and serves as a model for the biosynthesis of fungal azaphilones in general.

Graphical abstract: Orange, red, yellow: biosynthesis of azaphilone pigments in Monascus fungi

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
31 Jan 2017
Accepted
20 Apr 2017
First published
24 Apr 2017
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2017,8, 4917-4925

Orange, red, yellow: biosynthesis of azaphilone pigments in Monascus fungi

W. Chen, R. Chen, Q. Liu, Y. He, K. He, X. Ding, L. Kang, X. Guo, N. Xie, Y. Zhou, Y. Lu, R. J. Cox, I. Molnár, M. Li, Y. Shao and F. Chen, Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 4917 DOI: 10.1039/C7SC00475C

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