A team of engineers from KAIST have developed a novel microbial strain that achieves lutein production at industry-leading levels. Completing this synthesis is recognized as a major achievement in the field of natural product synthesis. Lutein, a xanthophyll carotenoid, is widely known for its abundance in egg yolks, fruits, and vegetables. Here’s how lutein can help maintain eye health. It combats oxidative stress and reduces risk of macular degeneration and cataracts.
The KAIST team, led by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee, utilized the bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum to create a novel strain that achieves industrially relevant levels of lutein production. This growth might open the door to new, more sustainable production techniques that may soon supplant conventional plant extraction methods.
The Importance of Lutein
Lutein is best known for its function to improve eye health. This carotenoid is widely found in other fruits and vegetables like leafy greens, corn, and egg yolks. Research has shown that lutein can reduce the risk of UV damage from sunlight and environmental pollutants by protecting the eyes from oxidative stress.
Research indicates that a diet rich in lutein may significantly lower the risk of developing macular degeneration, a leading cause of vision loss in older adults. Moreover, it has been associated with a lower risk of cataracts which cause vision impairment. As the global population continues to age, the growing awareness and demand for lutein and its associated health benefits are on the rise.
The Engineering Breakthrough
For the KAIST research group, using C. glutamicum was an important consideration because of the microorganism’s natural safety profile. In contrast to several other microbial strains, C. glutamicum is characterized by the absence of endotoxins, which renders it more adequate for food and pharmaceutical applications. The team’s engineered strain was really something special. In comparison, this strain produced 1.78 grams per liter of lutein in only 54 hours!
The optimized engineered strain has a high yield of 19.51 mg of product per gram DCW (dry cell weight). Moreover, it superlatively rates in productivity at 32.88 mg l -1 h -1. This accomplishment is in fact a record-breaking performance, constituting the highest production of lutein ever reported by any microbial host.
“We can anticipate that this microbial cell factory-based mass production of lutein will be able to replace the current plant extraction-based process.” – Hyunmin Eun
Future Implications
The importance of this innovation goes well beyond lutein production. Society as a whole is placing a higher value on prevention and health maintenance, especially with an aging population. Now the KAIST team’s technology and strategies can be foundational in producing other important natural products for medical and nutritional purposes.
Professor Sang Yup Lee emphasized the broader applications of their work: “As maintaining good health in an aging society becomes increasingly important, we expect that the technology and strategies developed here will play pivotal roles in producing other medically and nutritionally significant natural products.”