Microbial production platform for natural carotenoid pigments
A genetically engineered bacterial platform for scalable production of natural carotenoid pigments including lycopene, canthaxanthin, zeaxanthin, astaxanthin, carotene, lutein, and capsanthin. The technology achieves gram-per-liter yields of lycopene at lab scale and is being extended to a full spectrum of bright yellow to dark red colorants for industrial applications.
Overview
This offering presents a microbial bioproduction platform for manufacturing natural carotenoid pigments using genetically modified bacteria. Carotenoids such as lycopene, canthaxanthin, zeaxanthin, astaxanthin, carotene, lutein, and capsanthin span a color range from bright yellow to dark red and are widely used as natural colorants in food, feed, cosmetics, and nutraceuticals. The platform leverages an optimized terpenoid-producing bacterial strain in which a twelve-step pathway from the mevalonate route has been balanced to deliver smooth metabolic flux toward lycopene without accumulation of intermediates. Lab-scale flask cultures have reached gram-per-liter yields of lycopene, and the team is preparing a startup focused on microbial natural pigments.
Technical specifications
Key features:
- Engineered bacterial strain optimized for terpenoid biosynthesis, serving as a versatile chassis for multiple carotenoid products
- Twelve-step lycopene production pathway constructed and expression-balanced via the mevalonate pathway to eliminate bottleneck accumulation
- Demonstrated scalability across culture volumes of 2, 5, 100, and 1000 mL
- Optimized culture media designed to increase yield and reduce production cost
- Extensible platform intended to generate dedicated strains for individual carotenoids covering bright yellow, orange, light red, red, and dark red colorants
- Patent pending on the high-lycopene-producing bacterial strain
Technology readiness level
The lycopene-producing strain has been validated at flask scale with gram-per-liter yields and confirmed scalability across multiple culture volumes. Media optimization is underway to further improve yield and economics. The team is in the preparation phase for a startup company and is actively extending the platform to additional carotenoids through gene cloning and expression balancing, with an estimated six-month development window to reach dedicated single-pigment strains. The technology is positioned for partnership-driven scale-up toward industrial production.
About Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a major public land‑grant research university with a comprehensive academic portfolio and a large research enterprise. Industry partners engage through an on‑campus U.S. Department of Energy national user facility and shared core laboratories with user access. The university provides a chemical process scale‑up pilot plant on Michigan’s lakeshore, a research and technology park, and a Grand Rapids health innovation campus linking researchers with clinical partners. A statewide extension network supports field deployment and workforce training across Michigan’s manufacturing corridor. Research is backed by competitive federal funding from NSF, NIH, DOE, USDA, and DoD, while dedicated tech transfer and corporate engagement teams—supported by an affiliated research foundation—accelerate IP, licensing, startups, and sponsored research.
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