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Inducing red pigment and inhibiting citrinin production by adding lanthanum(III) ion in Monascus purpureus fermentation

  • Biotechnological products and process engineering
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Abstract

Monascus pigments (MPs) are widely used natural colorants in Asian countries. The problems of low extracellular red pigment (ERP) and high citrinin remain to be solved in Monascus pigment production. The effect of lanthanum(III) ion (LaCl3) on Monascus purpureus fermentation was investigated in this study. The yields of ERP and biomass respectively reached maxima of 124.10 U/mL and 33.10 g/L by adding 0.4 g/L La3+ on the second day in the total 8-day fermentation; simultaneously, citrinin was decreased by 59.93% and 38.14% in the extracellular and intracellular fractions, respectively. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels were obviously improved by La3+ treatment, while the activities of catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were increased compared with the control. The ratio of unsaturated/saturated fatty acids in mycelia was increased from 2.94 to 3.49, indicating that the permeability and fluidity of the cell membrane were enhanced under La3+ treatment. Gene expression analysis showed that the relative expression levels of Monascus pigment synthesis genes (pksPT, mppB, mppD, MpFasB2, and MpPKS5) were significantly upregulated by La3+ treatment, and in contrast, the relative expression levels of citrinin synthesis genes (ctnA, pksCT and mppC) were markedly downregulated. This work confirmed that LaCl3 possesses the potential to induce red pigment biosynthesis and inhibit citrinin production in M. purpureus fermentation.

Key points

• La 3+ induced red pigment and inhibited citrinin production in Monascus fermentation.

• La 3+ regulated genes expression up for Monascus pigment and down for citrinin.

• La 3+ increased the UFAs in cell membrane to enhance the permeability and fluidity.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Funding

We gratefully thank Guangdong Key R&D Program, Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province (2019B020210002, 2019B040402002), and Guangdong special funds for science and technology innovation strategy, China (2018JK35202003).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, China

    Hai-qing Liu, Zhen-feng Huang, Shan-zhong Yang, Xiao-fei Tian & Zhen-qiang Wu

  2. Pan Asia (Jiangmen) Institute of Biological Engineering and Health, Jiangmen, 529080, China

    Shan-zhong Yang

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  1. Hai-qing Liu
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  2. Zhen-feng Huang
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  4. Xiao-fei Tian
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Contributions

HQL designed and carried out the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript; ZFH, SZY, and XFT assisted to carry out the experiment and revise the manuscript; ZQW designed the experiments, participated in the data analysis, and finalized the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhen-qiang Wu.

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Liu, Hq., Huang, Zf., Yang, Sz. et al. Inducing red pigment and inhibiting citrinin production by adding lanthanum(III) ion in Monascus purpureus fermentation. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 105, 1905–1912 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-021-11162-9

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