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Updated: Feb 13, 2026

Isolation, Propagation, and Identification of Bacterial Species with Hydrocarbon Metabolizing Properties from Aquatic Habitats
Published on: December 7, 2021
Screening and profiling of natural ketocarotenoids from environmental aquatic bacterial isolates
Dalal Asker1, Tarek S Awad2, Teruhiko Beppu3
1Department of Food Science and Technology, Alexandria University, Aflaton St, El-Shatby, 21545 Alexandria, Egypt; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, 184 College St, Toronto, ON M5S 3E4 Canada.
Abstract:
Ketocarotenoids are high-value natural pigments. The red diketocarotenoid astaxanthin particularly exhibits an extraordinary antioxidant activity, which raises its market demand for foods and nutraceuticals. We screened for ketocarotenoid-producing bacteria from both marine and freshwater environments. Phylogenetic analysis, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence, revealed 37 potential producers of ketocarotenoids that are related to α-proteobacteria, comprising 32 strains of Brevundimonas and 5 strains of Erythrobacter. Carotenoids analysis by HPLC-DAD and HPLC-MS revealed two groups; astaxanthin-producers (28 Brevundimonas strains) and adonixanthin-producers (Five Brevundimonas and 5 Erythrobacter strains). Strain FrW-Asx16 exhibited the highest carotenoid production (1060 µg g-1 dry cells with 16.6% astaxanthin). Strain FrW-Asx-5 producing 946.1 µg g-1 dry cells carotenoid exhibited the highest astaxanthin content (∼46%). The most intriguing result is the potential of producing natural colorants from freshwater bacterial isolates, and with high productivity and selectivity, suggesting a great promise for their application in food.
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