ArticleMicrobial cell factories2013
Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli to optimize melanin synthesis from glucose.
Article in Microbial cell factories, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Microbial production of eumelanin from a desert-derived Aspergillus terreus: statistical optimization, comprehensive characterization, and in silico insights into breast cancer-associated targets.Microbial cell factories · 2026Article
- MelC tyrosinase-dependent enzymatic synthesis of functional melanins from phenolic monomers.Journal of biological engineering · 2026Article
- Microbial melanin: biosynthesis, functional Insights, and emerging research challenges.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Review
- Microgravity-induced constraints on melanin bioproduction: investigating E. coli metabolic responses aboard the international space station.NPJ microgravity · 2026Article
- Self-pigmenting textiles grown from cellulose-producing bacteria with engineered tyrosinase expression.Nature biotechnology · 2025Article
- Natural pigments derived from plants and microorganisms: classification, biosynthesis, and applications.Plant biotechnology journal · 2025Review
- Expanding the application of tyrosine: engineering microbes for the production of tyrosine and its derivatives.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2025Review
- Tyrosinases: a family of copper-containing metalloenzymes.Chemtexts · 2024Article
- A comparative study using response surface methodology and artificial neural network towards optimized production of melanin by Aureobasidium pullulans AKW.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Phage-Inducible Chromosomal Islands as a Diagnostic Platform to Capture and Detect Bacterial Pathogens.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2023Article
- Article
- Advances in the optimization of central carbon metabolism in metabolic engineering.Microbial cell factories · 2023Review
- Bacterial pigments: A colorful palette reservoir for biotechnological applications.Biotechnology and applied biochemistry · 2022Review
- Natural Melanin: Current Trends, and Future Approaches, with Especial Reference to Microbial Source.Polymers · 2022Review
- Reporter gene-based optoacoustic imaging of E. coli targeted colon cancer in vivo.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Application of bacterial tyrosinases in organic synthesis.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2021Review
- Polyphenol-Hydroxylating Tyrosinase Activity under Acidic pH Enables Efficient Synthesis of Plant Catechols and Gallols.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Programmable gene regulation for metabolic engineering using decoy transcription factor binding sites.Nucleic acids research · 2021Article
- Copper and Melanin Play a Role inFrontiers in microbiology · 2020Article
- Effect of amino acids on transcription and translation of key genes in E. coli K and B grown at a steady state in minimal medium.New biotechnology · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNatural aromatic polymers, mainly melanins, have potential and current applications in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The biotechnological production of this class of compounds is based on tyrosinase-dependent conversion of L-tyrosine and other aromatic substrates into melanins. The purpose of this work was to apply metabolic engineering for generating Escherichia coli strains with the capacity to synthesize an aromatic polymer from a simple carbon source.
resultsThe strategy was based on the expression in E. coli of the MutmelA gene from Rhizobium etli, encoding an improved mutant tyrosinase. To direct the carbon flow from central metabolism into the common aromatic and the L-tyrosine biosynthetic pathways, feedback inhibition resistant versions of key enzymes were expressed in strains lacking the sugar phosphotransferase system and TyrR repressor. The expressed tyrosinase consumed intracellular L-tyrosine, thus causing growth impairment in the engineered strains. To avoid this issue, a two phase production process was devised, where tyrosinase activity was controlled by the delayed addition of the cofactor Cu. Following this procedure, 3.22 g/L of melanin were produced in 120 h with glucose as carbon source. Analysis of produced melanin by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed similar characteristics to a pure eumelanin standard.
conclusionsThis is the first report of a process for producing melanin from a simple carbon source at grams level, having the potential for reducing production cost when compared to technologies employing L-tyrosine as raw material.
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