虾青素化学和生物合成研究进展

虾青素是一种重要的次级类胡萝卜素，具有极强的抗氧化性能，在食品、化工、医疗、水产养殖等方面具有广泛应用。虾青素的合成方法有化学合成及生物合成，化学合成是目前商业化虾青素来源，但生物合成的虾青素更安全，在食品、保健品行业更受欢迎。研究发现生物体内虾青素的代谢合成与油脂代谢路径间存在着一定的联系。本文综述了虾青素的化学合成法和生物合成法，重点综述了微生物中参与虾青素生物合成的关键基因及其代谢调控网络。概述了利用随机诱变、代谢工程、酶工程等手段提高细菌、酵母、海洋真核微生物等虾青素合成积累的研究进展。本文可为虾青素的高效合成研究提供理论指导。

Research Progress on Chemical and Biological Synthesis of Astaxanthin

Astaxanthin is an important secondary carotenoid with extremely strong antioxidative properties and is widely used in food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, aquacultures and so on. The synthetic methods of astaxanthin include chemical synthesis and biosynthesis. Chemical synthesis of astaxanthin is the source of commercial astaxanthin, while biosynthesis of astaxanthin is safer and more popular in food and health products industries. This review summaries chemical synthetic and biosynthetic pathway of astaxanthin, with emphasizing on the biosynthetic pathways of astaxanthin, key genes involved in biosynthetic and metabolic network of astaxnathin in microorganisms and plants. The research progress of using random mutagenesis, metabolic engineering, enzyme engineering and other methods to improve the synthesis and accumulation of astaxanthin in bacteria, yeast, and marine eukaryotic microorganisms is summarized. This article can provide theoretical guidance for the research on the efficient synthesis of astaxanthin.