Heterologous carotenoid production in microorganisms

A biomass that comprises at least one C40 carotenoid compound, wherein said biomass is produced according to a method that comprises culturing a bacterial cell from the class Alphaproteobacteria in a culture medium under conditions suitable for growth of the bacterial cell and production of said C40 carotenoid compound, wherein said at least one C40 carotenoid compound is astaxanthin, canthaxanthin, zeaxanthin, phoenicoxanthin, adonixanthin, 3-hydroxyechinenone, echinenone, β-carotene, or lycopene, or a combination thereof, and wherein said biomass having said C40 carotenoid compound is produced in the culture,

• wherein said bacterial cell comprises a heterologous polynucleotide sequence from Paracoccus zeaxanthinfaciens, Escherichia vulneris, or Pantoea ananatis that encodes a polypeptide of a C40 carotenoid biosynthetic pathway or comprises a polynucleotide sequence that has at least 70% sequence identity thereto and that retains the biological activity thereof or comprises a polynucleotide sequence that encodes a polypeptide that has at least 70% sequence identity to the polypeptide of the C40 carotenoid biosynthetic pathway and that retains the biological activity thereof, operably linked to a promoter for expression of said polynucleotide sequence, and wherein the bacterial cell expresses said heterologous polynucleotide sequence to produce said at least one C40 carotenoid compound, and
• wherein said bacterial cell further comprises:
• (i) a polynucleotide sequence that expresses the heterologous gene sequence idi from Escherichia vulneris or a polynucleotide sequence that has at least about 70% sequence identity thereto and that retains the biological activity thereof or comprises a polynucleotide sequence that encodes a polypeptide that has at least 70% sequence identity to the encoded idi polypeptide from Escherichia vulneris and that retains the biological activity thereof,
• (ii) heterologous polynucleotide sequences that have the gene sequences crtY, crtI, crtB, and crtE from Fulvimarina pelagi or polynucleotide sequences that have at least about 70% sequence identity thereto or polynucleotide sequences that encode polypeptides that have at least 70% sequence identity to the encoded crtY, crtI, and crtB from Fulvimarina pelagi;
• (iii) at least one heterologous polynucleotide comprising polynucleotide sequences that have the gene sequences crtZ, crtY, crtI, crtB, and crtE from Paracoccus zeaxanthinifaciens, Escherichia vulneris, and/or Pantoea ananatis or polynucleotide sequences that have at least about 70% sequence identity thereto and that retain the biological activity thereof or polynucleotide sequences that that encode polypeptides that at least about 70% identity to the encoded by crtZ, crtY, crtI, crtB, and crtE polypeptides from Paracoccus zeaxanthinfaciens, Escherichia vulneris, and/or Pantoea ananatis and that retain the biological activity thereof, operably linked to a promoter for expression of said polynucleotide sequences, wherein the biomass comprises zeaxanthin produced by the bacterial cell;
• or
• (iv) at least one heterologous polynucleotide having the gene sequences crtY, crtI, crtB, and crtE from Paracoccus zeaxanthinfaciens, Escherichia vulneris, and/or Pantoea ananatis or polynucleotide sequences that have at least about 70% sequence identity thereto and that retain the biological activity thereof or polynucleotide sequences that have least 70% identity to the encoded crtY, crtI, crtB, and crtE polypeptides from Paracoccus zeaxanthinfaciens, Escherichia vulneris, and/or Pantoea ananatis and that retain the biological activity thereof, operably linked to a promoter for expression of said polynucleotide sequences, wherein the biomass comprises β-carotene produced by the bacterial cell.