High-yield zeaxanthin production in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii via advanced metabolic pathway engineering

Zeaxanthin is a yellow xanthophyll naturally found in plants and algae, where it plays a crucial role in light absorption and photoprotection. In mammals, ingestion of zeaxanthin through the diet is essential as it accumulates in the retina where it absorbs excessive blue light to protect photoreceptors from photooxidative stress. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is an established model organism for pigment biosynthesis and bioengineering. Previous studies developed double knockout mutants (dzl) using CRISPR-Cas9 to eliminate ZEP and LCYE genes, achieving zeaxanthin production up to 6.84 mg/L with medium optimization. However, these approaches have not explored additional enzyme overexpression strategies combined with advanced cultivation techniques, leaving significant potential for enhanced zeaxanthin biosynthesis unexplored.

In this study, we strategically enhanced zeaxanthin biosynthesis in C. reinhardtii by genome editing to knockout competing pathways coupled with overexpression of rate limiting enzymes and optimization of cultivation for efficient biomass accumulation. We employed the knockout of lycopene epsilon cyclase (LCYE; dL mutant), which resulted in a 2.83-fold increase in zeaxanthin levels. Additionally, knocking out zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP, dLZ mutant) redirected metabolic flux towards zeaxanthin biosynthesis, further enhancing its accumulation by 14.07-fold. Overexpression of β-carotene hydroxylase (CHYB, dLZ_C strains) enabled efficient hydroxylation of β-carotene and increasing zeaxanthin concentration further by1.80-fold without compromising growth. In addition, elevated acetate concentrations supported mixotrophic growth and resulted in a zeaxanthin yield of 21.68 ± 0.90 mg/L, threefold higher compared to previously reported values and a culminated 190-fold increase compared to the parental strain (UVM4) grown in standard medium.

Our study developed a zeaxanthin-producing mutant strain by integrating gene modification, gene overexpression, and culture optimization. Among various green microalgae, the engineered strain dLZ_C demonstrated notable zeaxanthin productivity, reaching 6.70 mg/L/day over a period of 3 days, suggesting its potential as a candidate for industrial production. Its improved efficiency may offer advantages for large-scale applications in microalgal-based zeaxanthin production. Additionally, these findings indicate that Chlamydomonas reinhardtii could serve as a viable and sustainable platform for biotechnological applications in the health, nutrition, and biotechnology sectors.