P25: Exploiting fungal cell factories for pigment production

The growing concern over eventual harmful effects of synthetic colorants has led to an interest in natural coloring alternatives. Currently, these natural colorants are extracted from fruit skins or seeds and their production is thus dependent on the supply with raw materials. To overcome this limitation, the potential production of colorants by fungal cell factories is at the focal point of interest. Fungi are known to naturally synthesize and excrete diverse classes of pigments within an extraordinary range of colors, but are often difficult to grow under laboratory conditions and therefore so far not suitable for industrial production. However, several pigments used in the Asian food industry are produced by Monascus purpureus, but the production is associated with the mycotoxin citrinin. Hence, these pigments are not approved for human consumption in Europe and the USA.

To propose new microbial cell factories for safe and reliable color production and thereby providing an alternative for the European market, the potential of the red pigment producer Talaromyces atroroseus was investigated. It was shown that T. atroroseus is able to produce red pigments using a variety of carbon and nitrogen sources and a standard minimal cultivation medium was proposed. Furthermore, T. atroroseus was physiological characterized in batch cultivation and different Monascus pigments were identified in the fermentation broth. This study shows stable color production using a minimal medium as well as identification of the pigments produced by T. atroroseus and sets therewith the cornerstone in implementing pigment production in fungal cell factories.